Harvoni Bodma

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USPS Session 9: Snails Rails Report

??? - Session 23

Session 23 - 01/14/2025 ***the story so far*** We headed off to Kavios, the city in the sky. It's suspended over a chasm after having fallen into The Hollow, held only by bridges on various sides. In Kavios, Ondska <last name> 's office, located in Anchorville North. I'm visiting Ondska to "collect the bag" and resume my workmanship related to Mystek. I catch up with Ondska, who asks about Professor Uta, who is apparantly very important to Ondska's work here in Kavios. Unfortunately, Uta is still missing, having been captured during the assault during the Battle of the Bands in Tralljor. It turns out that Professor Uta is the supreme expert in Mystek from Utdanning, and Ondska would greatly appreciate Uta's genius in this matter. With Ondska's direction, I leave his office, and go in search of Willow to aid in the rescue of both Uta and Brynhil. Eventually, I manage to catch up with Willow and the rest of the party, who is walking about with a man named Vikko, the detective assigned to the abduction of Uta and Brynhil. Vikko tries to intimidate me, and I power move Vikko by taking a drag of his cigar. He's mildly amused. Vikko gives us an update on the investigation - We eventually have to make our way over to the club Dodiikami, on the Southern Cable of town, the prestidgious Bryter family. Vikko puts the cigar out on his wrist, and says he'll meet us there whether we show up or not. We find ourselves with 8 hours to kill. During these 6 hours, I convert 20 silver into 2 gold, and then spend 8 of my 11 gold to make a small gold vial which can hold some components, useful for Summon Elemental. <Rumple finds some gang members in an alley, ones who spited him, and Rumple just kills some bitches. Their souls try to leave, but Rumple steals them ??? > I also sell my Feathered Bone Sling for some copper pieces, and do some material gathering. It took me a while, but i did manage to find a potion shop. I purchase one Mind's Eye for 25 silver. #feelingbroke. It's now the evening, so we make our way over to the Dodiikami club, ran by the prestigious Bryter family on the Southern Cable of town. During our journey over there, we find a large Leonin man holding a gnomish figure that looks suspiciously like Rumple. The bouncer tries to crush Rumple's head, but it doesn't seem to work. This is quite an amusing situation - we watch to see if Rumple can get himself out of this situation. Rumple kicks the bouncer straight in the teeth. Rumple then joins us. We have to cross the Southern Cable to cross the Gap, floating away from the cable, swaying and rotating around the cable. We find Vikko, who's standing a couple feet away on the catwalk near the club. We enter. There's a wide mix of races in the club, predominantly dwarf, but a few Goliaths, humans, and elves. I nudge Rumple and point to the absolutely BAKED dwarf, clearly high on Draugur dust. Rumple is struggling to hit it off. Rumple casually walks off, and finds a tweaked out elf on Draugur Dust. She leans in for a kiss - Rumple slaps her for the attempted kiss. Due to the slap, Rumple feels a breeze passing over him (its so abundantly Draugur Dust in the air). Willow looks around the club, and notices that everyone here is wearing the same clan garb, and could be responsible for the abduction of Brynhil and Uta. Willow slides up into the nearest table, and tries to act sultry towards the nearest Goliath and Dwarf. A tanker of ale plops in front of Willow, and the Goliath engages in conversation with Willow, hoping to slam her against a wall later. She identifies the clan symbol as the Raseri. We met them a lot in Tralljor. The Raseri dwarf indicates in no uncertain terms that "they run this town". Willow takes a sip of ale, and immediately has a flashback to right before the bloodbath of the Battle of the Bands. Willow wakes back up, groggy, and finds herself covered in dust. Diaga gets a drink at the bar, and moments later finds himself lying on the ground. Rumple, having witnessed both Willow and Diaga trip out after consuming ale and beer, proceeds to do the same, and also has a hallucination. Rumple returns, clearly groggy. Vikke bursts into the club. Roger is scared. As Vikko walks through the club, eyes turn to stare at him. Vikko presses the bartender for information to get to Helvetti (?). The bartender refuses. Vikko whips out his lighter, and blasts the bartender squarely with flames. < BEGIN BATTLE 25 - THE DODIIKAMI CLUB CLASH> < END BATTLE 25 - THE DODIIKAMI CLUB CLASH>

The Battle of the Bands - Journal 21

Session 21 - 12/08/2024 ***the story so far*** Before things get underway, I wander over to Bev's Bobs and Baubles and purchase 3 bottles of Bardic Prowess. Juuuust in case... I catch up with everyone at the tavern, who are all eating a meal. I sit by myself, collecting my thoughts, profoundly confused by a Baby Roger sitting at the table. After the meal, Willow leaves with Brynhil and heads to the post-office to send off a letter to her friend Nessa. At the post-office, Willow converses with the post-office clerk - the clerk reveals that there's a letter for Willow! The letter is very neatly written, and matches that of Willow's childhood home (!?). The Ulgen family found out Willow has been skipping school, and an envoy has been sent to talk to Willow. Brynhil probes more in Willow and Nessa's friendship. After everyone is done with the post office, Willow and I head off to bed northward of the town. <Diaga stuff happens> The next morning, we meet up at the escort car, and are reminded of our mission to get the sound equipment for the Battle of the Bands Festival - this is necessary as the original sound equipment was shattered en route to the Festival. We load up and leave. Brynhil and I take the back seat while Willow drives. Diaga and Rumple drive the other vehicle. It's really dark out, but I think Diaga manages to hear a wounded animal. I cannot locate Diaga.

Before the Battle of the Bands P2 - Journal 20

Session 20 - 11/10/2024 ***the story so far*** Phoenix expains that there's a lot of fake ones, but there's a real one. It takes YEARS off your life. It doesn't extend your life however much you drink. I can't tell if he's trying to deceive me, but he's very interested in the vial, despite being low-energy. I input a sigil lock onto the Potion of Shimmering Blood [Radiant: ᚱ/Bludgeoning: ᛒ/Force: ᛉ]. At the remainder of the night, before we head off to bed, our party takes some time to explore town, visit the shops, and meet up with some old friends. Willow decides to check up on Brynhill. Willow uses Knock on the poor door and it fucking SHATTERS. Pretty much the entire town of Tralljor hears this Knock. Everything inside Brynhill's house is neatly organized - there's one bed, with a pillow and blanket next to it. I find my party members at the bar - Willow is *really* upset. After prodding the rest of the bar members as to what happened, I gather that Willow learned some upsetting news. I console Willow, who is receptive. Willow is upset as she spotted Brynhill walking around town holding hands with someone. Willow is madly in love with Brynhill (very important). We make our way to the Pläded Krona's house (the band that contains: Brynhil Nilsern on the plan flute, Tseren Tólgrav as the band's singer and triangle/tambourine player, Chono Qoroltai on lute, and Quen Grunnica). Tseren tells us that Brynill is visiting a friend who came out of town, and Willow starts crying. Tseren is unsure how to respond, and offers lodging. We enter and drop our stuff on in Tseren's house. We are greeted by a Tseren's father, who snaps his fingers and remembers that HE is the one who hired us to distribute flyers. Tseren's father pulls out a bag of golden coins and pays us each 3 coins (I hold on to Roger's coins until we meet up again). Tseren lets slip that Brynhill missed band practice today, and that Chono left for Ezlekh, for some reason. We hear a commotion to the East - Willow thinks it could be Brynhill. We investigate and find

Before the Battle of the Bands P1- Journal 19

Session 19 - 11/10/2024 ***the story so far*** Willow acquires a Journal. The Journal seems to be a documentation of Willow (????????), seemingly someone from Willow's homeland - it seems the Ulgen family has made an enemy. Diaga acquires 3 Busted Warforged Power Cells. We return back to the city of Heilagur. Everything seems pretty quiet, the Northern Lights are making their appearance, orange bands darting across the eyes. We're scheduled to leave for Tralljor tomorrow morning. Having a bit of time to make final amends before leaving, I head over to Heilagan Runes to catch up with Ondska Stjärnman, who seems restless and is pacing around the shop, bothered by something. This is unusual for his stoic nature. Ondska still seems mildly bothered by some news of a personal matter. I politely thank Ondska for the work/research opportunity, and let him know I'll be leaving town tomorrow morning. Ondska is pleased with my visit, but still seems bothered. I make my way over to the Weapons shop, and sell some weapons. I make a profit of: 12 silver, 7 silver, 3 silver, 2 silver, 35 silver; bringing my total coins to 3 gold, 68 silver, 23 bronze I give Roger 1 silver in exchange for Arcane Handgun. The rest of our Party also makes various sales of items before leaving town. As we leave the city of Heilagur, headed to Tralljor, we find three guys wearing bony armor. Our train makes it to a station near the river in the Dulspeki Forest, about 1 hour's worth of train travel away from Tralljor. The train operators are saying the train needs to stop and refuel. We find ourselves in an icey plains, with a bunch of signposts. Most people are getting out, feeling the earth, enjoying their surrounds. As we get out, the bone-armor men are talking about "The Fountain of Youth", getting really excited about it for the most part. As the Bony Boys head off down the path conveniently indicating the supposed "Fountain of Youth", I follow maintaining a distance, with Roger and NPC Willow also following along. We find ourselves hiking through the Forest, the journey not being too difficult, as we approach a cliffside, spanned by a wooden bridge. Two of the Bony Boys have made it across already. The remaining Bony Boy, a larger fellow, puts one foot on the bridge, which visibly creaks. He takes three steps across, as a portion of the bridge snaps, the man barely making it across. Roger tries to jump the gap, and manages to jump squarely onto the bridge. Roger falls through the bridge, missing the ledge, landing on a ledge *Beneath* the ledge, landing 10-15ft below the bridge. Roger managed to find a cave (???). I climb down the cliff to Roger's level, while NPC Willow stays up top, and manages to climb down, cross, and climb back up safely to the other side. We split off, Roger and I heading left into the cavern, NPC Willow heading forward behind the Bony Boys. Roger and I find a large cave of shimmering ore deposits. I GAIN: 1 Raakatite (+2) While we gather these ore deposits, there's a loud, distant chant. It's difficult to make out what is being said. I indicate to Roger there's something unknown ahead of us, as we inch towards the chanting. We hear some clapping and high-pitched noises, as it suddenly goes quiet. The chanting then goes again, and we can make out a word that sounds like "Kane". The chanting continues for another 30 seconds, and then a loud burst of laughter and clapping erupt. It becomes silent again. Roger and I continue forward. As we get closer, the chanting becomes clearer - this is a group of young men, teens-20s, chanting, laughing, partying. "CHUG CHUG CHUG CHUG CHUG" as it gets louder and louder. In the very distance, we turn a corner, and 100 feet in front of us is 6 men wearing sweater vests, black to brown hair, approximately teenagers. One of them is holding a large stone bowl, nearly vertical, sipping from. CHUG CHUG CHUG CHUG CHUG. A little bit of light flickers into their chamber. As we get closer, it seems to appear that they are drinking from this bowl. I haven't seen any signs for a while for this "Fountain of Youth", the context clues suggest that this liquid has been tucked away in the mountain for some time. This could either be natural springwater, or indeed a liquid associated with the "Fountain of Youth". The guys continue chanting for another 30 seconds, until the bowl is finished chugged by the one guy. They erupt in shock and laughter. They're having a fantastic time. I prepare a Lighting in a Bottle potion, as the guys seem to waver off a high. The guys indicate they need to meet up with another group, but seem to chill in the cave still, goofing. I advance to 30 feet before tossing the potion, as the guys see me, apparantly thinking we've brought friends. I chuck the potion. < BEGIN BATTLE 23 - THE FOUTAIN OF EUTHS>

Of the 6 guys, one falls down, one seems unaffected, and the rest are startled. One of them reaches for a weapon.

Roger charges towards the closest guy, swinging his greatsword, and digging into his leg.

I cast Barksin on myself.

Roger swings again, felling the Guy in front of him. A large wound emerges, the man coughing up blood. Roger stomps on the guy, killing him.

One guy lowers his hands.

The guys try to drag the remaining Downed guy to the other side of the cave.

The Guy with the pistol aims at Roger. Without saying anything, the flabbergasted gun guy is focused solely on Roger, dealing 25 force damage. He nudges one of his other mates, who then lunges at Roger, attempting to Grapple. The bloodied student manages to bring Roger to the ground into a state of Prone.

Roger, in a Prone state, uses Necrotic Shroud. Three of the guys cower in fear. The one with the pistol remains unfazed. Roger laughs in the face of the gun slinger, who then shouts "WHAT DO YOU WANT"

I transform into a Sabre-Toothed Tiger, and charge straight at the gunslinger, slashing him with my Claws.

The gunslinger gets up, attempts to shoot me, and in his fear drops the gun, and it goes off, shooting himself.

The other guys are profusely crying at this point, moving away from me.

Roger spills the blood of another guy. There's seemingly something *in* his blood, with a bit of sparkle.

I circle the cave to gain 20 feet of distance, charging one of the Guys, slashing him with my claws, killing him. His Blood also shimmers.

Roger sneaks up behind the remaining guy, slaughtering him in the process, becoming a bloody pulp.

< END BATTLE 23 - THE FOUTAIN OF EUTHS> I dap Roger up for a battle well done. The blood being shimmering is odd - my best guess is that whatever the guys drank modified something within their body (likely blood). There appears to be a small hole in the ground for where the fountain is pointing to. A little thing of water, a few feet downwards into the hole, seems to be still. I dump my potion of Placebo, and fill it with the contents of Shimmering Blood. Roger chooses to eat a little bit of their Blood. Roger immediately deals 1 damage to his arm to test the effects, out of which pours Shimmering Blood. We survey the sum of our work. As we exit the cave, its about another 10 minute walk back to the cave. Roger comes up with an idea, and we head back to the cave. As we make our way back to the cave, we manage to meet up with NPC Willow, who remarks about *their* Fountain of Youth. The Bony Boys were saying that it could instantly kill you. (????) The Bony Boys think this because the sign says "Euth". Willow heads off back to the train. Roger and I head back into the cave. We return to the room, with the 2 inch diameter hole in the ground. While we're carving up the bodies, we notice that each student is wearing a college uniform. It's a very complex crest, which depicts a minotaur's head, and a head of a trident. It specifically says "Collegium Citharoedorum". I recognize this name - its the same college that Willow went to. *IT IS A REALLY GOOD THING THAT WILLOW DID NOT ENTER THIS CAVE* I cast Create Bonfire to dispose of the bodies of the college students, and their uniforms. What remains is the stench of flesh, and the stains of their blood on the cave floor. Roger sends in an army of rats into the hole to retrieve the fluid. The rat scampers out with a mouthful of fluid. Roger squeezes the content of the rat's mouth into his own mouth. We make it back to the train station. NPC Willow cannot help but smell the stench of burning flesh on us, but thankfully, does not question it. On our way via train to Utdanning, about 30 minutes passes, and we see a troop of Vomethndan soldiers marching in the same direction as the train, with weapons in hand. The Bony Boys specifically point them out. The train makes its way to Utdanning. We have NOT been to this city in a long while. Stepping off the train, the last time we were here the streets were occupied by lots of Promatican troops, which was about 15% of the crowd. It's now about 1%. This is about the typical hubbub of train activity, people biding their time waiting for trains. One different thing is that the CREST of Utdanning is now slightly different, boasting a bit more color (maroon, cyan, orange). Some of these colors are the colors of the Promatican troops that were here. This very well could be with the fact that the troops were here, and that some negotiations occurred, but I can't be sure what the result of these negotiations were. It could also just be a thing related to the month of the year, who even knows. As I stand there making up my mind, I remember that I told Uta about the Battle of the Bands. Rushing out of the train station, I rush past Meadtown, and make my way up the Yarl's lift. Campus seems very quiet right now. As I make my way onto campus. There's a few people outside working on small projects, but much less than before. I don't really have too much time to burn, so I have to move fast to get to Uta's apartment. There's an excitable Earth Genasi who stops me, and asks me about the special projects. The Earth Gensai mentions a lot of the research projects are getting funded by the government. He's likely talking about the Jarl running projects through campus - the Jarl is in charge of both the city and the campus. I make it to Uta's apartment. My memories of a bustling loud apartment are met with the silence. I use Uta's door buzzer. I hit the buzzer. There's no movement. Uta is either silent, or not there. I buzz again - there's no response. I head back to the train station, with no noteworthy developments. I inexplicably bump into Dr. Motby. Dr. Motby and I exchange quick pleasantries. Dr. Motby catches me up on Utdanning developments Promaticans were taking hold of the city for a little bit, and a deal was struck between the Promatican government and the Vomethndan government. He looks around, and remarks about the war kicking up, giving notes of excitement about potentially new customers, but shares a worry about *too much excitement*. He talks about an increase in protests, a bunch of government officials, seizing houses, etc. I press, and Dr. Motby leans in, and thinks there were Ezlekhian spies. But then he laughs, and moves on. As I run back to the train station, I remind Dr. Motby about the Battle of the Bands, who replies that he's a sponser POG NOISES. The train leaves Utdanning, headed to Tralljor. We make it to Tralljor. As we approach the town and make it to the town square, there's a large crowd of people. This is a very eccentric crowd, with a couple of *large* demons, chains around their necks, muzzles on their mouths. A woman goes up on the podium, and starts talking to the crowd about the preparation for the Battle of the Bands. We make our way two the back of the crowd. In the back stands two players with guitars strapped to their back, punk rock outfits adorned. The woman bows, and introduces herself as Jarl Gudren. The bands introduce themselves:

Night Shift

The Vials Davis Experience

Willow introduces us as 'Party 2'

Everyone turns and stares.

Vampire Weekend (introduced by Saint Germaine)

Yarl Gudren continues speaking, welcoming us to enjoy our time in the little town of Tralljor. Breakdown will occur tomorrow morning, outlining specific tasks each person will be responsible for during the festival. Everyone shall meet tomorrow morning at 10am. She holds up two fingers - we have TWO days before the start of the festival. She remarks how lodging will be provided, so long as you indicate you're a part of the Battle of the Bands. The bands disperse, and I talk with Saint Germaine, as he appears to be a vampire. He's holding a black umbrella. We start to exchange words, and I'm unsure whether he actually *is* a vampire. I turn to the girl, playfully teasing, and she reassures me that he is NOT a vampire, but is a Dhampir. Rosebud looks at me, and goes "look, ONE of the people in Vampire Weekend is a vampire. Phoenix is fucking crazy sometimes." Rosebud and Germaine are willing to introduce us to Phoenix. A man with drooping black hair, using a black umbrella, littered with piercings, approximately 20s. We exchange words, and Phoenix remarks that there's a lot of vampires down in Ezlekh if you know where to look. Phoenix and I head southeast to the cornfield, and I do my best to explain the situation, and show them the Shimmering Blood. Phoenix's downtrodded eyes *light up*, leaning in. He clearly recognizes this is Fountain of Youth. Phoenix expains that there's a lot of fake ones, but there's a real one. It takes YEARS off your life. It doesn't extend your life however much you drink. I can't tell if he's trying to deceive me, but he's very interested in the vial, despite being low-energy. I input a sigil lock onto the Potion of Shimmering Blood [Radiant: ᚱ/Bludgeoning: ᛒ/Force: ᛉ].

Pursuit of the Pirates - Journal 18

Session 18 - 10/27/2024 ***the story so far*** ~~After failing to capture Willow's assailant, the Hrosan Templars wait for our hero's at the river docks. How will they manage to salvage the sting operation now that they have sprung the trap early?~~ I hop out of the water, losing my Hunter Shark form, clearly battered from the bites. We trudge on back to the dock, small Blubby in a pot, and we come across a group of Hrosan Templars, who are NOT happy to see us. As our boat gets pulled back into the docks, the Hrosan Templars (the guards of the city) are very displeased with us, and remark that we ruined their sting operation. Willow presents small, potted Blubby to the Templars, who are displeased. The guards wander off to go check our words, and we sneak away to locate Karl Avsikter to return our capture of Blubby. We locate the district where Karl Avsikter presides, rushing through the city, and are greeted by a secretary, who insists we take a number and wait our turn. This is not feasible. Willow manages to convince the secretary that we're here for "special needs (not safe for work)". We burst through the door, and show Karl Avsikter our small, potted, Blubby. Avsikter is surprised, and we explain the nature of the shrinking spell, frantically trying to figure out what to do before the spell runs out in 15 minutes. Karl Avsikter takes the potted Blubby, and tosses it into a trapdoor compartment of her desk, a black void, seemingly endless. Karl Avsikter thanks us for our efforts, and hands us each a ticket for one (1) free potion recipe at the Potion Maker's Society shop, in Enchanter's Row. We make a detour over to the Inn, where Willow calmly gathers her things, and then we continue on to the Potion Maker's Society shop. There's fumes of every single color coming out of the chimeys that poke out of the roof. We enter into the workshop area. We walk up to the desk, and talk to the administrative people. I hand my ticket over to the Potion Masters, and learn the POTION RECIPE for Dark Veil. I also relinquish 5 silver to gain a Potioner's Kit. I buy off Roger's free ticket for 1 silver, and then learn the POTION RECIPE for Choke Dust. I strike up a conversation with the Potion Masters on how to learn how to make potions. I learn about the various processes, including:

finding/gaining free vouchers

experimenting (8 items, will give 1 random potion+recipe), and

synthesizing (make an INT saving throw, based on result you will either learn how to make the item, or fail to.

We travel to the Hrosan Temple to meet up with the Hrosan guards. Roger exchanges pleasantries with the Bardagi Guards. We descend into the basement of the Temple to meet with the Hrosan Templars. We find ourselves in an open cell room, a makeshift armory, one Templar scribbling out a map of the general region. The Hrosan Templars inform us that they've fixed up the boat we've commandered, and demand we assist with striking the pirates before they can flee. We take some time to craft items, and then depart down the river on the repaired boat, looking for the pirates. I take Roger's masterclass on how to drive this boat. A little after we journey down this river, Roger and I spot a ship sporting the flag of the Pirates, as we prepare to engage the Pirates. < BEGIN BATTLE 21 - EZLEKH PIRATES ON THE FRIDA RIVER>

We angle our boat so the cannons aim at the Pirate ship.

We fire off a few cannons.

The Pirate Captain (on the boat we first rammed), shouts loudly, inspiring the Swashbucklers around him. They all pull out their handguns, and fire off at the front of our boat.

The Ezlekhian Envoy rubs her hand across her Scythe, who activates an Enchantment, magically summoning a Fire Elemental.

The second Pirate Ship takes aim at us, more than aware that the first Pirate Ship is in the way, as they adjust to hit our ship.

The Fire Elemental throws a Fiery Whip at both Diaga and Paladin Lohk,

I touch my skin, casting Barkskin, as I run at the Fire Elemental, Wild Shaping into a Polar Bear.

Willow casts Shatter on the center of the first ship's Pirate Captain.

The Ezlekhian Envoy is pulled into the water, drowning, the Fire Elemental dissipating into the air.

The first ship's crew attacks once more.

Diaga and I flank the Swashbuckler, and I manage to land a hit with my Claws. The Swashbuckler's armor seems to absorb some of the blow.

Roger casts Eldritch Blast, hitting himself in the process.

The second ship fires its cannons, hitting us in the process.

The second ship adjusts its cannons.

The captain dives into the water and activates Chainsaw Legs, ripping through Paladin Tru and Willow Ulgen in the process.

The Swashbuckler tosses a can of Whale Diesel on himself, Diaga, and Harvoni, and then hucks a Firebomb, lighting the area. The Swashbuckler does major damage, but dies in the process.

The other Swashbuckler tosses a second Firebomb at Diaga and I.

I resume my form as a Polar Bear, and flank the second Swashbuckler with Diaga. I deal 28 damage with my Bite and Claws. The Swashbuckler's armor seems to absorb some of the blow.

Willow casts Thunder Wave, knocking both the Pirate Captain and Paladin Tru back 10 feet. Roger manages to catch Paladin Tru and swing him back onboard, preventing Paladin Tru from falling into the water. The Pirate Captain, on the other hand, falls straight into the water.

Diaga wails on the Goblin Swashbuckler, killing him in the process.

The second ship re-aims its cannons.

Diaga hops onto my Polar Bear back, as I swim across the river, closing the distance between the first and second Pirate ships.

Diaga launches off my back, using Psionic Wings to fly directly at the Second Captain.

Diaga absolutely wrecks the Second Captain off the ship.

Our party advances closer to the second ship, a portion of the river still separating the two Pirate ships.

Willow casts Fire Bolt on the second ship's Ezlekhian Envoy, dealing fire damage, but getting Hellishly Rebuked in the process.

The Pirate Captain climbs back up on the boat, and aims a Blunderbuss at Diaga - his aim is poor, and he misses all his shots.

The Ezlekhian Envoy moves to the center of the boat, and fires a Gust of Wind at both Diaga and the Pirate Captain.

The Envoy tosses Time-out Juice at Diaga, who gets sucked up into themselves, and goes POOF.

The two Swashbucklers fire cannons at my Polar Bear self - they deal 33 damage.

The Pirate Captain turns the ship downriver.

Willow casts Shatter on the back of the Pirate Ship, rendering it immobile as it coasts down the river. The wheel splinters and shatters apart, rendering the steering of the ship moot.

I swim back to the first Pirate ship, as we regroup and prepare to chase after the adrift second Pirate Ship.

A Short Rest Occurs ---

As we crash into the beach, the Pirates are ready and expecting us.

Three Warforged Hunters rush our boat, but rather than board it, surround the boat in a large area of Razor Wire, limiting our options.

I cast Entangle on the three Warforged Hunters, trapping them close to the boat and their Razor Wire, and then huck a Firebomb at the two standing close.

Willow casts Hypnotic Pattern at the Pirate Captain and 3 Swashbucklers flanking us, rendering 2 of the Swashbucklers Incapacitated and Charmed, breaking up the pack.

Roger steps forward and casts Hex, followed by Eldritch Blast, striking the Entangled Warforged Hunter with 2 bolts.

The Ezlekhian Envoy casts Fireball, but is Counterspelled by Roger.

Willow gets hit by Handguns from the Swashbuckler and Pirate Captain, which invoke a vulnerability to Force Damage.

The Fire Elemental spews Flaming Spit at Diaga, who dodges the first mucky fire but gets hit by the second Spit.

Willow consumes Medicinal Tincture Lvl 2, removing her vulnerability to Force Damage.

Willow then casts Raulothim's Psychic Lance on the Pirate Captain, which is SUPER effective against the Captain, dealing 136 damage, as the Captain's brain explodes in a cloud of sparkly glitter.

I step around the corner and cast Ice Knife at one of the Entangled Warforged Hunters, who manages to pass the Dexterity of the Cold, but still takes a minor amount of bludgeoning damage.

Roger compels his Paladin friends to storm the beach, flanking another Warforged Hunter. Roger manages to crit with his Greatsword, dealing 33 Slashing/Lightning damage, splitting him from balls to brain; Roger then advances towards the Ezlekhian Envoy.

Diaga Psyonically flies over Roger to land behind the Envoy, and smacks her in the back of the head, dealing a modest amount of damage, but becomes the recipient of the Envoy's Hellish Rebuke.

Paladin Tru engages with the Fire Elemental, taking a little bit of heat, and casts Divine Favor to smack the Elemental with a War Pick, singeing its fiery form.

Paladin Lohk casts Scorching Ray on one of the Entangled Warforged Hunters, burning it to a crisp.

The Pirates resume their assault.

The Envoy attempts to cast Banishment on Roger. It fails. She then drinks a potion of Phantom Form.

One of the Swashbucklers runs up, chucks a can of Whale Diesel, and then a Firebomb. My pants get singed a little bit, but Willow falls down.

Another Swashbuckler takes aim at me, landing a few shots off the handgun.

A second Swashbuckler takes aim at me, landing a bronze shot, rendering me vulnerable to Force Damage.

I take Fire Damage. It hurts.

I drag Willow's body out of the Flames, and give Willow a Healing Potion Lvl 1. I then cast Call Lighting, covering the Pirates, and strike the Inspired Swashbuckler.

Willow casts Healing Word on herself.

Diaga casts Smoke Blanket around the Ezlekhian Envoy, and then attacking the Envoy with a mace.

Roger compels the Paladins to flank the remaining Warforged Hunter, finishing him.

<STUFF HAPPENED WHILE I WAS IN THE SHOWER> < END BATTLE 21 - EZLEKH PIRATES ON THE FRIDA RIVER> Having beaten the Pirates and saved Heilagur of the wretched crew, we proceed to loot the Pirates of their gear. <<WRAP UP>> As we finish looting the Pirates, our party sets up camp, and takes a short rest. As we wake up, we investigate a carving that depicts a central Rune, with three circles outward, one circle on the Northern direction, one circle on the Southeast direction, and one circle on the Southwest direction. Willow and I investigate the Northern campsite, which is clearly been trashed intentionally. We find a note, that has a hastily scribbled note. There's a note regarding Wizards and a Runic password. "The runes were supposed to be solved by "cook your poisonous drink" " ? RIDDLE TIME LETS FUCKING GOOOOOOOO There's a large BOOM that emanates from the Southwest edge of the beach. I go and investigate the Southwest campsite. I happen on to Roger and the two Paladins, and spot Roger scooping something shiny up. I make it to the Southwestern camp. There are disheveled tents, with a wet campfire. I inspect what used to be the fire. There's bits of paper in the ashes. It is most definitely paper. I try to figure out the writing on the paper, and it reads: F Willow and I embark to the Pirate ship to search for additional clues. In the captain's cabin, there's a small journal on the desk. Inside, there's a description on why the Pirates are here. Flipping through it, they seem to be very far from home. Their native town is Chertaminè, a backwaters farming town. The Pirates were hired by the Ezlekhi specifically to loot any and all shipments of Fantasma crystals within Vomethdna. Most importantly, the captain's journal contains some grumbling about Ezlekh mages, requiring sigil locks for any precious cargo, passageways need to be covered with sigils, and grumbles about how its too much magic. As I descend into the cargo hold via ladder, one of the rungs slips out, and I stop myself from falling. Before the Pirates left, they rigged a trap at the bottom of the ladder. It seems to be a bunch of pulleys connected to a few oil barrels, rigged to knock over the lamp nearby. The lamp is currently lit. I jump down to the bottom of the ship, and take some damage. Willow Shapes some water into the Cargo Hold. It appears that the only trap that was set was to set the hold on fire. In the back of the cargo hold, there's a few boxes with the same kind of sigil lock, that look very similar to the cave wall. I return to the Northern camp, keen on searching for "poisonous drink". I find an unknown bottle, with a similar sigil lock. On the Southeast circle, there appears to be a Cold rune. I go back to the Cargo Hold, and input Fire/Poison/Cold into the chest sigil locks. WE LOOT! I go back to the Northern camp, and input the sigil lock on the potion bottle. Feeling satisfied, I return to the wall carving, and carve in the Fire/Poison/Cold runes. As the wall crumbles away, we're greeted by a Pirate Commander and Shuudanchi Handler. < BEGIN BATTLE 22 - THE SIGIL HOLE IN THE CAVE>

Willow locks eyes onto the Pirate Commander, and casts Fire Bolt directly onto the man's face.

The Pirate Commander whips out an Energized Charming Electric Rifle, and shoots Willow for 5 damage.

Feeling Bardically Inspired, I sling a 3rd LvL Ice Knife at the Pirate Commander. The shot misses, and the Pirate stays warm.

Willow fires off a second Fire Bolt.

Diaga rushes the Pirate Commander, swings, and greatly misses.

The Pirate Commander takes a Legendary Attack, and decks Diaga in the face.

Diaga does some weird psychic shit on the Pirate Commander.

Roger rounds the corner of the cave.

Willow and I become sticky, while Diaga, Roger, and the two Paladins press on.

While Sticky, I cast Barkskin on myself, and then transform into a Sticky, Giant Elk.

Roger, Paladin Tru, and Diaga flank the Pirate Commander, and knock the Commander Prone.

Roger attempts to Hex the Commander, and Disadvantages the Pirate Commander's STR.

Roger then swings on the Pirate Commander.

Willow uses Cloud of Daggers.

The Pirate Commander, being desperate, uses Vampire Fangs, Disarming Pulse, and fires everything its got.

The Shadow Spawn of Fury uses Dreadful Scream - I'm now Frightened (which, while being Sticky, is a weird combo)

The Shuudanchid Handler pops off with an Imbued Chilling Root Whip.

I am a scared Elk. I run away.

I attack the Shuudanchid Handler, landing a Crit, fully destroying the Handler's head, killing the mans.

< END BATTLE 22 - THE SIGIL HOLE IN THE CAVE> Diaga and I expertly carve the Pirate Commander for his Arcsthetics. Diaga acquires the Vampire Fangs. Diaga and I split the weapons - Diaga acquires a Warhammer, and I hand Willow the Charming Electric Rifle. The Shuudanchid Handler's body fades away. What remains is a black box, covered in green goo. Roger acquires a gemstone in a glass cage. He instructs the Paladins to pick up the case. Paladin Tru holds on to it. Willow acquires a Journal. The Journal seems to be a documentation of Willow (????????), seemingly someone from Willow's homeland - it seems the Ulgen family has made an enemy. Diaga acquires 3 Busted Warforged Power Cells. Roger starts blowing out all the torches.

The Abduction of Willow Ulgen - Journal 17

Session 17 - 10/06/2024 ***the story so far*** <something recap wise> <<<Bardagi is talking to Roger, and needs Roger to go to Kavios for a big battle.>>> <<<Bardagi mentions something of value is nearby, related to their past life, made of stone. A captain of pirates is wielding it, and Bardagi is unhappy about it.>>> During my 12 days in the city, Willow and I split an inn, costing a total of 2 silver and 5 copper. I manage to craft 2 Lightning in a Bottle(s). During those 12 days, I work closely with Ondska Stjärnman, mostly spending my time in the Heilagan Runes shop, experimenting. One day, Ondska tries to strike up a conversation. I admit that we've encountered a few scuffles, but that I know very little. Ondska remarks that they're not supposed to have a standing army, but financial interests have split Promatican forces to assist BOTH Vomethnda and Ezlekh. Ondska reminds me that Promaticans used to use magic, before they lost it (INTRUGING PLOT POINT), and that they were very impressive. Ondska comments about Ancient Promatican Tech, and comments how it very closely Mystek. I probe Ondska about APT vs Mystek. He replies that they both use Runic Magic (important note: Ondska worked to help develop Mystek with Skald Kappi (the very same of the Kappi Research Institute). I probe further into APT, and Ondska shrugs, mentioning that he tried to reverse-engineer it, but was unsuccessful. I scribble a note in my notebook "Locate ATP???", and then continue on studying and experimenting with Runic Arts. After work, I start to eat an evening meal, and realize that Willow is not home for our annual dinner meal. This is odd. I look around the room, and notice an open window. Willow hates open windows (they cause dust!!) Investigating further, I notice a smudge on the outside of the window indicating it was opened from the outside. It really seems like Willow just gave up and jumped out the window. I exit the tavern, and don't find a mangled Willow corpse. I re-enter the tavern, and approach the barkeep. I pay for one (1) ale with 5 copper. A large female dragonborn approaches, and I inquire as to the whereabouts of Willow. The barkeep mentions that Willow hasn't paid rent in a while, and to rectify this I slide the barkeep Willow's portion of rent (5 silver) plus an extra day (2 silver, 5 copper). The barkeep remarks I'm really trying to look for Willow, as I nod and continue sipping the ale. Diaga finds me in the bar, still sipping my ale. Remarkably, I'm still holding it down. Diaga asks about Willow, and I casually remark I'm not sure where Willow is, but mention the smudge. I show Diaga to the inn in the room, and Diaga immediately notices things I did not notice before. Diaga investigates. Diaga investigates the damp spot, and comments how it reminds her of a sleeping potion. I feel a little sleepy, but manage to not fall asleep. Diaga investigates the window, not finding much other than the smudge. I Mark Willow's Scent, and sniff out that Willow is headed towards the dock. Diaga and I split up, Diaga to the Docks and I to the Temple of Bardagi to retrieve Roger. I profusely apologize to Roger for interrupting his training, and implore him to help save Willow. Roger and I make our way to the Docks. In our view, we find Diaga conversing with a shady figure, and Willow's lifeless body next to the shady figure. < BEGIN BATTLE 19 - THE SHADY DOCKS>

The shady figure takes on a ghostly form, and phases right through us. It doesn't seem to do much.

Diaga crafts a Potion of Madness, and tosses it to Roger, who chucks it at the ghost. It seems to do something, but the ghost shrugs it off.

I slash at the ghost with my Amidrakh Daggar. It shrugs off the attack.

Roger strikes the ghost with a Raakatite Scaled Greatsword.

The shady ghost nabs Willow's body, departs into the nearby room, and returns, reforming into a corporal form, and strikes a whip at Diaga.

The shady ghost then pulls out a furry handgun, shooting once at Roger, once at Harvoni.

The shady ghost lands a shot on me. I lose 13 HP.

The shady ghosts tosses a Choke Dust potion, engulfing Roger and Diaga. Diaga falls, incapacitated.

Diaga makes her way over to the shady figure, as the Lioness Paladin tosses a set of Bolas at the shady ghost, grappling the shady ghost.

I transform into a Giant Elk, and charge at the shady ghost. I flank, with Diaga's incapacitated assistance, and land a Ram attack with the Charge.

The shady ghost shakes loose of the Bolas.

Paladin Tru (the goliath), lands a Tracking Bug on the shady ghost.

Paladin Lohk (the lioness), pulls out a Gunlance, and lands a critical hit with FIREEEE.

The shady ghost runs off, to the docks, with Willow's body in tow.

< END BATTLE 19 - THE SHADY DOCKS> We continue our pursuit, chasing the perpetrator, keeping our pace as we race to the docks. The shady figure leads us to the Docks, and seemingly, disappears. I smell for Willow - she's next to one of the large shipping containers. I go to the shipping container, and find Willow on the ground, by herself. Roger notices a pirate flag that catches his eye. I scoop Willow's lifeless body up, and carry her onto the boat. Diaga, Roger, and the two paladins board. As we inch closer to the pirate ship, the pirates shoot back. As an elk, I manage to dodge a few of the shots. The motors of the ship shut off, stranding us in the middle of the waters. The glowly blob still lurks around our ship. We load up a harpoon into the cannon, as I aim the Harpoon at the creature. I land the harpoon shot, and then dive into the water, transforming into a Hunter Shark. < BEGIN BATTLE 20 - BLUBBY STRIKES BACK>

I bite Blubby, wrenching my shark mouth on Blubby.

Blubby strikes back, missing an attack.

Diaga hits herself.

Paladin Lohk dives into the water.

Blubby batters our party with ferocious hits.

Willow casts a spell that knocks Blubby unconscious.... and also knocks Paladin Lohk and Harvoni unconscious.

Diaga manages to shrink Blubby, and we get Blubby onto the boat.

< END BATTLE 20 - BLUBBY STRIKES BACK> I hop out of the water, losing my Hunter Shark form, clearly battered from the bites. We trudge on back to the dock, small Blubby in a pot, and we come across a group of Hrosan Templars, who are NOT happy to see us.

Bardagi Up North- Journal 16

Session 16 - 10/06/2024 ***the story so far*** Staring at the blobs in front of us, the *real* R/G/O, exhausted, tell us to meet up with them again in the city of Heilagur. As we approach the city, there's a large pillar of ice in the center of the city. We see Octavious again, who remarks "THIS is the bastion of the Vomethndan empire, held together by strong, cold magic mages, and a fortress made out of one of teh strongest materials known to man, Everice, which doesn't melt no matter how hard you try." R/G/O head off into the city, leaving us standing at the gates of Heilagur, waiting to head on in. In front of us, large glacier-like buildings impose themselves onto us. There's a bustling section in front of us, people entering in and out. Willow pulls out her Fairy Pipes to play as we enter - the sound is a sound of all time. Roger joins in with his bagpipes, and the sound is NOTICEABLY better. Willow feeling defeated puts away her Fairy Pipes. The townsfolk are in awe of Roger's performance (Willow is rightfully pissed). They work out a financial deal where Willow will get 60% of the profits Roger makes, netting Willow 5 silver coins and Roger 4 silver coins. We enter a very standard Vomethndan street, apartment buildings on the left and right of us, completely made of ice, completely liveable. A stone walkway lines the path. I continue following the stone path. Willow manages to find a sauna in the midst of the glacier town, with steam rising from amongst the ice. Willow heads on in to spend her newly earned silver (spending it all?). We continue on, not really worried that Willow is having a steam bath. As we continue on, we're greeted by typical structures of timber and stone, the glacier apartments gone. We enter into a busy market, with people selling their usefulness as enchanters, notably machinists specializing in Mystek and Runic Arts. I wander around the market, and happen to find myself in between streetcarts and a building doing *any* kind of enchanting business. I wander into the enchanting business. We seem to find ourselves in a district known as "Enchanter's Row". This is very clearly an old building, at least over 100 years old. It's not too busy, a couple guys looking around at the old-style Runes, swords, rocks, you name it, its got a Rune carving. There's two people of interest: a tall man, nearing 7ft, talking to a guy behind a counter. The tall man is pale, and the guy behind the counter is short and stout. Somehow, I can't discern more than this -_-. Diaga wanders in to the building as well, and strikes up a conversation with the shopkeep. The tall man seems unbothered by this interruption? Somehow, the topic of Laer comes up, the Runesmith we met randomly in the middle of the woods (Session 6). Turns out, Laer is the shopkeep's nephew!! [definitely major plot twist]. Diaga shows off his morningstar and the enchants that Laer put on it. The shopkeep declares his name as "Skep Envis", and shakes Diaga's hand. Skip informs us we're standing in Heilagan Runes, a shop dedicated to all things Runic and magic. <<< Outside, Roger draws attention by declaring there's a sale at Heilagan Runes, and Roger overhears a conversation involving pirates in the River Freida, taking some cargo and lives with it.>>> <<< Willow is informed that their time in the spa is up. Before leaving, Willow leaves a note with the spa-keep, and asks for notice if Nessa ever arrives. Willow leaves the spa, and looks around to see if she can spot where her friends went. Thinking that we wouldn't be shopping, Willow heads off, but gets a feeling they're being followed. Casually looking around, Willow doesn't really spot anyone, but the feeling remains. >>> The tall man approaches me, and remarks about my interest in Runes. The tall man is happy about my interest in Runes. The tall man declares himself second to Skep, and that his name is Ondska Stjärnman. I inquire about Ondska's ability to take the properties of the Amidrakh Dagger and apply it to the Short Sword. Ondska remarks that this is Geomancy, but that he is intrigued. Ondska asks if I'm interested in a job regarding research into Runes. He seems to be interested in science, and furthering magic in any means, Runic Arts, Geomancy, Mystek, etc. I tell Ondska I'm interested in helping him with research. We have about 20 days until the Battle of the Bands, and I tell Ondska that I'm willing to help in research for 17 days IN EXCHANGE for paying for my train ticket. Ondska accepts, and also hints at joining him again in Kavios after the Battle of the Bands (briefly mentioning that he's in the business of Fantasma crystals). <<< Roger feels a beckoning, but waits until we're done with our shop things. >>> <<< Willow finds themselves near the outskirts of town, locating an icy observatory. Willow approaches, but gets stopped by a hooded figure. The hooded figure inquires as to who Willow is. The conversation is weird. The hooded figure mentions that the observatory is used for the calendar, tracking time, etc. Willow wants to see some stars, but the Hooded Figure is distant and refuses. Willow bats her eye - the Hooded Figure relents and is willing to give a short tour, but that Willow must remain close. The Hooded Figure gestures Willow along as they both approach. The Observatory is made of ice, but the exterior is a bit more crude. Its very dark, but lights outside make it glow like the night sky. As Willow exits, the "entrance" freezes over, seemingly never existing in the first place. The feeling of being watched remains. Willow looks out for a historical area. >>> Ondska leaves the shop, and waves to Skep as he leaves. Before Ondska leaves, I ask about the research opportunity. Ondska tells me to meet him back here at Heilgan Runes, in Skep's upstairs office, to learn more about the opportunity. I then put away my weapons. Skep Envis then starts to work on Diaga's enchantment request. As Diaga and I leave the building, Diaga remembers he didn't haggle the price and is annoyed. We find Roger directing people into the store. We leave Enchanter's Row and head to the center of town. We find ourselves in a very Gothic area, stone structures, lots of temples and cathedrals, lots of statues to every Major Religion Gods. There's also a very militaristic structure, with guards sparring, located across from the Temple of Viscu. We make our way to Risi Square. The entire area resembles a commons gardens, where large gatherings are expected. Frosted pine trees rise amongst the delicate flowers that adorn the gardens. We find ourselves real close to the Hrosan Ministry, home to multiple deities in one temple. The temple represents the three major Religions over time (this can shift over time). Roger suggests we go enter Bardagi's temple. As we decide as a group to enter Bardagi's temple, a wild Willow appears from the south. The four of us enter the temple, and immediately see three grand halls, extending North, East, and West. East Hall being Kuv, North Hall being Bardagi, and West Hall being Eilifur. We wander down the North Hall into Bardagi's sanctum, as the entire room fills with a big thick smoke, and the workings of armorer tailors. There's clanging of sparring in the back. <<< Roger hears something in his head. >>> Roger says thank you, and I'm caught off guard and am confused. Roger remarks that someone is talking in his head. <<< ??????????? >>> Visibility is poor with all the armorer tailors. Roger continues down the hall, seeing tapestrys to Bardagi. The room shifts from armorers, to murals of War. There's two people sparring eachother, one with a warpick, one with a warhammer, both clad in metal armor. Roger declares next. The two figures stop immediately, and turn to look at Roger. They're miffed, seemingly determined to test Roger's strength and will. They chuck a Fireball at Roger. <<>>

Seeing Double - Journal 15b

Session 15b - 09/27/2024 ***the story so far*** Harvoni inputs '4 5 6 5 4' into the Chest. We find a white plate object that has a large magical effect to it, as well as:

3 Gold Ore

2 Fantasma Crystals

Ting-Triller: A custom magic item?

Having solved the puzzle, we proceed through the cave and find an underground lake. We continue conversations with our future selves. I'm asked to again carve a tunnel through this new Southern cave. I don't think anything of importance happened. As I prepare to carve this tunnel, Future Octavious wants me to make sure I'm confident in the decision I'm about to make. "Diaga mentioned when we were back there, that these things were related to something in the cave, related to our future selves. But why would they need an illusion?" As I prepare to cast a modified Ice Knife, I feel perturbed by Future Roger's insistence that we get out of here. I instead cast Grasping Vine, pinning Future Roger to the wall. Current Roger is caught off-guard, and slices my vine in twain (sadge). Future Roger is malding over this, and asks what the heck is going on. Future Harvoni steps in, and Willow confirms the "Weirdness" of characters. Future Willow asks politely to step outside. I pout, not satisfied with the current state of affairs. The Future versions of R/G/O decide to chat amongst themselves. Future Roger and Current Roger step aside. Future Roger turns, and asks Roger if they wanna kill off Harvoni. Roger doesn't really want to, but it starts to sink in what the fancy Future Roger "The Bloody", *means*. Future Roger hands the sword to Smoulder. Smoulder excitedly growls. Roger is not amused and heads back to the group. Octavious and Future Octavious are talking about Future self's two kids, just like he always wanted. I adamantly just don't even try to cast modified Ice Knife. Future Harvoni re-teaches me, to a T, how to cast a modified Ice Knife. Expertly, I defer to Future Harvoni in that *they* should cast the spell instead. For some reason, Future Harvoni breaks down, and profusely admits they __can't__ this spell. She mentions that she hasn't casted in a while. I try to see if Future Harvoni is "magically bullshitting me". <<< My Future version has an Aura literally around them, so its either latent magic from the portal they came from, but I can tell its an illusion, so either Future Harvoni is an illusion, or is bullshitting me. I *also* sense some Enchantment magic, which seems to be tying to Future Harvoni, Future Diaga, and two of the Precipice Vallation (Radio and Guy). Enchantment Magic can go to a variety of things, aka spells that affect the minds of others, influencing or controlling their behavior - Charm Person, Mind Fog, Zone of Truth, Cloud of Madness, psychically-based spells. They seem to be concentrating. >>> I become aware that I am being Enchanted, but I'm not sure what I'm other. <<< Insight: I believe this is some kind of Charming effect, and that it has something to do with when we entered the cave - there was a strange sense of dread when we entered. Now that we're close to our Future Selves, the "dread" is masked by the good memories put above it. It almost feels very "off" talking to them, and that they're trying to charm me into liking them. >>> Future Harvoni bonks me in the head with a pen, and asks me what is going on. I feign heart palpatations, but I secretly cast Detect Magic: The picture becomes more clear: There's a feeling of "mind strings" tying each one of our Current Selves Future Harvoni, Diaga, Radio, and Guy appear like they have a strange set of "mind strings" between Future Roger, Smoulder, Future Octavious, and Future Willow also have a set of "mind strings" between them. Illusion magic around *All* the Future Versions of our Party. They seem to be eminating straight from the edge of the body, and a strange, feint aura on the floor between each Future Versions of Ourselves, all around them, on the floors, its everywhere. Future Roger has had enough of waiting - He casts Command against Current Harvoni. It Works. I hear "CAST", as I turn to the Southern Wall, and (begrudgingly) cast Acid Knife at the wall. It sparks forward, and cuts cleanly through the rock, creating a giant 1 foot radius hole through the rock. Future Roger, Future Octavious, Smoulder, and Roger start crawling through the hole, followed by the other Future Versions. Future Harvoni turns back to me, and says "I don't know what lies beyond this cavern, but whatever it is, its got strong magic ahead. Will you be able to help us?" Roger seems to ponder what he just witnessed, and thinks about the oddity of a Paladin having access to Command. All of the Precipice Vallation continues on, surprised at the forcefulness of Future Roger, feeling dejected over what just happens. As everyone steps outside into the light, Current Roger notices - the skin of the Future selves becomes translucent, their shadows turning red. The Future Versions begin to notice this, and they make a break for it, running away from the cave. < BEGIN BATTLE 18 - DOUBLE TROUBLE FROM THE CAVE>

Before the Future Versions of ourselves can get too far, I summon a giant stormcloud and cast down Call Lightning, striking the spot where Future Willow was.

A portion of Future Willow no longer exists, but as I look at Future Willow, the parts of the body ooze back together, gluing themselves back together.

Current Willow casts a spell at Future Roger, which seemingly seems to effect the

Current Radio pulls out a fucking bazooka and fires at Group 2, exploding as a Mortar, striking half of the entity. The Junk Gun teleports them backwards!!

The Future Versions of ourselves are melding away - clothes are melding, parts are getting pushed around as they get hit. As a GROUP, they clamor out in four separate voices "WE JUST WANT TO LIVE!", knowing that their effort to leave is futile.

I Wild Shape into a Giant Constrictor Snake, and I bite into what feels like Jelly. As the blob enters my mouth, it takes like sulfer, like rotten eggs, and a bit of a rocky carbonic taste. It does NOT taste good.

NPC Diaga manages to sink a clean arrow right through the blob, splashing into the ground beyond the blob. The tip of the arrow melts away. The group of blob signals to the other, "You've got us, but we're not going down without a fight!" The blobs all brandish their weapons and attack.

A revolver appears, containing a potion of some kind. I receive two bullets coated in magical serum, feeling the brunt of 13 force damage.

Octavious uses a Firebolt on the group of blobs in front of me - the Firebolt does not hit.

I Constrict the blob using my Giant Constrictor Snake form, as I wrap around the blobby version of Future Willow. They try to leave the center of the oozy body, but are restrained by my Constriction.

Current Willow casts Shatter, having Advantage on inanimate creatures.

I don't notice anything, but a wave of lethargy washes over Willow.

Willow pulls out the Harp Bow and fires a shot!!!!

Current Octavious hits max damage o_O and fires a Firebolt at the copy of himself. The slime itself loses all structure, hissing and screaming to back away from the fire, increasingly more vulnerable.

I Constrict the weakened blob.

The blobs slowly whittle away, as Willow, Guy, and Octavious continue pummeling the blobby figures.

Willow goes down, but Octavious heals Willow as he falls down.

I squeeze Future Willow tighter, further Constricting my giant snekky body, gripping onto barely mush.

Roger pops the blob, as it turns into a puddle all over the ground, seemingly defeated.

We move towards the second group of blobs.

I fail to Constrict Future Radio, but it doesn't matter as Willow finishes the Battle.

< END BATTLE 18 - DOUBLE TROUBLE FROM THE CAVE> Staring at the blobs in front of us, the *real* R/G/O, exhausted, tell us to meet up with them again in the city of Heilagur. As we approach the city, there's a large pillar of ice in the center of the city. We see Octavious again, who remarks "THIS is the bastion of the Vomethndan empire, held together by strong, cold magic mages, and a fortress made out of one of teh strongest materials known to man, Everice, which doesn't melt no matter how hard you try." R/G/O head off into the city, leaving us standing at the gates of Heilagur, waiting to head on in.

Journal 15a - The Puzzle Process

**The following journal is a summary of the clues and puzzles that occurred during Journal 15 - The Cavernous Crawl, and the means our Party went about to solve the grand session puzzle. ** **Session date: 09/22/24** Resuming the previous session and wandering around the main cavern, we happened upon four prominent walls within the cavern. These walls, referred to as North, South, East, and West, bore the resemblance of carvings in between torches lighting them in the dim cave. On the North wall, scribbled was: Y * E L U E * B R E E * On the East wall, scribbled was: G U E W * R E W N * B On the South wall, scribbled was: R L * O B G E O * N L On the West wall, scribbled was: E B Y L L * N R G E U === This would be later referred to as Clue #1. Carrying on into the session, we took a detour to solve a minecart puzzle to rescue the party member known as Balrug. This detour was important to the overall story, but did not lead to additional clues being discovered. After returning to the main cavern, our adventuring party managed to carve a way through the rocks that had fallen on the Western portion of the main cavern. Entering this tunnel, Octavius (current time) found a wrought-iron pickaxe that bore the following illustration:

=== This would be later known as Clue #2. Continuing on, we entered a portion of a cave with a Console in front of us, bearing seven (7) distinct buttons: Red, Yellow, Green, Blue, Magenta, Brown, Grey. === This would be later known as Clue #3. Just off to the side of this Console, there was a fork in the road. On the right fork, a cloud of frost was bellowing, which to the touch would instantly inflict frostbite on unsuspecting limbs. On the left fork, a room marked "Captains Quarters", which contains a locked chest bearing 5 slots, and a note that read as follows: > "Cold and dark, dank and dim// > My men lined up for their rollcall// > And in the order which we all had sworn// > They all stood straight in the hall// > First stood the grey, brown, and yellow teams// > The fewest teams hit the paint first// > Next the... [THIS PORTION OF THE PAGE IS SMUDGED]// > Shortest to tallest they all took their shifts// > Though the warmest-colored men ne'er arrived// > And their letters numbered spell out a secret code//And my treasure you seek so shall you find" === This would be later known as Clue #4. At this point in the session, no more progression could be made - the chest in the "Captains Quarters" was locked, requiring a code, and the Console was needed to dispel the frostbite cloud, but what to input? --- Initially, the clues were summarized in order of appearance. Clue #1, Clue #2, Clue #3, and then Clue #4. Our initial troubleshooting of the clues gave no indication on where to start. Dungeon Master Ryan provided the following hints:

Keypad Hint: Write out the letters and read them in an order that is not left to right

Chest Hint: The order is the amount of times the colors appear, read the second last line to find what the numbers are

As this point, we opened up a notepad file to start fiddling around with the clues. Returning to Clue #1: Wall N: Y * E L U E * B R E E * Wall E: G U E W * R E W N * B Wall S: R L * O B G E O * N L Wall W: E B Y L L * N R G E U We decided to translate the snake's path on the pickaxe in terms of directions, to see if that illustrated an idea. Tracing out the snake, it revealed the following pattern: E S W N E S W S E At this point in the puzzle, Dungeon Master Ryan informed us of a mistake in the snake's pictorial representation. The snake should have read as follows: E S W N E S W N E This, drawn out, resembles a spiral. Using Clue #4's line of "They all stood straight in the hall//", we lined up the wall carvings in order of the snake's path. We took the snake's sequence and substituted in the carvings: G U E W * R E W N * B R L * O B G E O * N L E B Y L L * N R G E U Y * E L U E * B R E E * G U E W * R E W N * B R L * O B G E O * N L E B Y L L * N R G E U Y * E L U E * B R E E * G U E W * R E W N * B This string bared no significance. Returning back to the snake's sequence, we arranged the wall carvings based on the order of the snake's path. The common sequence within the snake was: East, South, West, North, etc. Reordering Clue #1 to reflect this sequence, On the East wall, G U E W * R E W N * B On the South wall, R L * O B G E O * N L On the West E B Y L L * N R G E U On the North wall, Y * E L U E * B R E E * This illustrated some interesting potential. Clue #4's stanza of "> First stood the grey, brown, and yellow teams// > The fewest teams hit the paint first//" Made us feel that we had to read this new sequence to gather colors. Recognizing the * as a Space symbol, and reading the sequence in a Serpentine fashion (starting top left, reading down, over one, back up, over one, back down, over one, back up, etc) Read out, this gave off Grey, Blue, Yellow, Blue, Green, Brown, Green, Blue (space) Inputting this sequence of colors into the Console dispelled the frostbite cloud. --- Continuing on with the Console code of Grey, Blue, Yellow, Blue, Green, Brown, Green, Blue (space), we decided to utilize stanza 5 and 6 of Clue 4 to write out the colors again. Stanza 5 indicated that the first three colors should be Grey, Brown, and Yellow. Stanza 6 then suggested Green (which was counted twice) and then Blue (which was counted thrice) This gave a sequence of: Grey, Brown, Yellow, Green (2), Blue (3). Represented as numbers, we tried inputting 11123 into the lock. The locked chest did not budge. We then tried using the numbers of letters within each color to create a code. This gave us: 4 5 6 5 4 Inputting the sequence of 45654 unlocked the locked chest. ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Upon reflection of the clues presented and the means of which we solved it a day after the session, I come up with the following notes:

Sleep, and/or lack thereof, contributes to puzzle recognition ability and critical thinking. Our Party spent approximately 40 minutes to solve both puzzles, and only about halfway through the puzzle solve did I feel I had a solid grasp on what we were doing and means to solve it.

The starting point of the puzzle was a little unclear. The 4 clues presented together were a LOT of information at once, and it was hard to determine where to start. Our Party spent approximately 10 minutes trying various starting methods and getting nowhere.

While there was a graphical issue with the snake's path, this mistake bared little impact on our ability to work out the clue. The snake path was meant to illustrate a common sequence for arranging the lines of Clue #1 (into East, South, West, North), however my initial interpretation of the snake clue made me think more of a a means to navigate a maze. It was a little unclear that this sequence was meant to invoke a "reorder the stanzas of Clue #1."

The serpentine reading of the stanzas was neat. While Dungeon Master Ryan's hint helped guide us in figuring out how to read the sequence, I think an additional clue to indicate the "Serpentine" reading method would have been good.

Clue #4's pieces of information were solid, but upon reflection I don't know whether the inclusions of Stanzas 8 (Shortest to tallest they all took their shifts//) and 9 (Though the warmest-colored men ne'er arrived//) made any significance for the solve. Stanzas 1 through 6 were instrumental in being able to solve the Console puzzle, followed by a torn portion of the clue. For separation sake, Stanzas 8 and 9 would have been better served, in some way, indicating the step (or two, depending on your counting) for solving the locked chest.

As written and looking at it a day later, I still don't know the meaning of Stanza 8's clue of "shortest to tallest", nor the importance of Stanza 9 informing us about the Red team never arriving (as Red was never a pivotal color at any point during the puzzle.

The Cavernous Crawl - Journal 15

Session 15 - 09/22/2024 ***the story so far*** As we leave, Balrug mentions that the snow seems soft, and then we fuckin plummet into a hole in the ground (this irony is not lost upon us). We approach the hole, impressed by its staggering size (that's what she said), and strategize how to deal with this encounter. We descend into the giant Cave. There appears to be vague shadowy figures running across the walls of the Cave, dimly lit, with only a few torches at the bottom of the pit. We spot a strange man in the distance, seemingly challenging the monsters of the pit. Suddenly, a bunch of clones pop out (clones of all of us appear, Harvoni Clone, Willow Clone, Diaga Clone, R/G/O clones, etc.) Radio/Guy Diorthóno/Octavius Kardiá - The Precipice Vallation Roger's clone remarks "Is that all you got dungeon? Bring it on!!!!" Guy's clone remarks this isn't the first time they've fallen into a hole. Harvoni's clone remarks "Hooooly shit" These clones are noticeably different in primary features

Diaga's clone is a glasses-wearing woman in formal clothing, with a nice leather sweatervest in white sleeves, holding a clipboard and a pencil. "Nothing like old nostalgia to whip you in the face."

Harvoni's clone is the most similar of all the clones, but is wearing a white labcoat with a special symbol (that I do not recognize). The clone has features of a Shifter, but their skin seems a *lot* cleaner, and generally more dolled-up compared to myself. The journal Harvoni's clone is holding is mostly scribbles, but contains Runes.

Roger's clone is proudly boasting a large set of armor, pieces highlighting Bardagi. Roger's clone is with a Displacer Beast, a large puma-like cat, eldritch tendrils erupting from its back. Roger's clone comments on the resemblance of Roger's armor to a past time, "This is before we got all that fuckin MONEYYY man" - Roger's clone remarks after seeing Roger's tattered armor. "But definitely not as good as my scrubs now." as his Aasimar wings bellow out.

Willow's clone is clad in a white ballgown, pink flowers adorned in her hair. She's very dolled up with makeup, a nice set of heels, and she drops a glass of champagne. She remarks, "Will someone pick that up? Hello? Wow, I really am out of the palace. Are you like my long-lost younger sister?"

These clones appear to be future versions of ourselves, 5-years in the future (from 1679), having entered a portal to arrive here, some willingly going through the portal, some falling through. The clones appear to have arrived here recently, evident by the lack of tracks in the snow. Harvoni's clone remarks "wait, is this gonna screw with the timeline?" <ABOVE TABLE, WE KNOW THIS IS NOT MARVEL TIME-TRAVEL RULES> Harvoni's clone continues on, remarking how no one has blown up yet. As we're standing in this large cavernous ruin, there's a sudden feeling that's giving off a presence, watching us. I look around, and notice that large chunks of ice in the center of the room are surrounded by a bloody fluid. There's also strange etching along parts of the walls, but there's no figure within sight who would be watching. <<<Willow notices Ice Golems in the center of the room, surrounded by pools of blood. This is odd, since Ice Golems do NOT have blood. Willow also notices that the presence isn't focused on any one of our clones, so its watching over all of us *and* all of the clones.>>> Guy Diorthóno/Guy's Clone remarks there's a cave-in on the western end - perhaps we investigate it? As we wander around the northern edge of the cavern, there's etchings of letters on the walls with stars in between them. We wander around the rest of the cave, and note down the following etchings: North: Y * E L U E * B R E E * East: G U E W * R E W N * B South: R L * O B G E O * N L West: E B Y L L * N R G E U These marks bear signs of having been dug by pickaxes or chisels. As we overhear R/G/O talking with future R/G/O, there's a distinct sense that future R/G/O is more distant. The Future Party 2 is talking about the western cave-in. Future Harvoni is analyzing which rock we should pull, but Future Roger is remarking the whole cave could collapse. Future Harvoni remarks that there may not be a solution to the puzzle. There's a trail of large boots going down a south-eastern corridor of the cave, but they are shallow prints. It's unclear whose prints these are. <Perception Check: There's a 3 foot clearing of snow that seems to be trailing this set of footprints. These seem to be large metal bootprints that appear to match a Vomethndan Infantry print.> <Investigation Check: This is likely where Balrug scurried off to - Balrug said he was running away from something. It's possible this lowering of the snow is what was chasing Balrug> Future Willow remarks that the rest of the Future Party 2 is gonna try and find a way to break down the rocks without destroying the cave. Willow asks Future Willow about the general appearance how Party 2 seemed to have drifted apart. Future Willow remarks it sort of started when the war ended "2 years ago" that everyone went their separate ways - the countries reformed into New Malthendan Empire. (From basic english, this is an amalghamation of malnova and vomethndan mashed together) Checking the last corner of the cavern, I manage to gather:

tin (-1)

Roger's Displacer Beast seems to recognize us, and is friendly enough to allow pets. I move back to the Ice Golems covered in blood. The blood is thick, and around the base of one Ice Golem and around the head of another. Ice Golems are magically enchanted and don't contain blood. As I look at the base of the Golems, its clearly not blood - this is more solid, and definitely not frozen blood either. There's a gelatinous consistency, that pools upward. There's a set thickness around the body. There's a blood-like color, but not blood, and definitely did not originate from these creatures. As I investigate the consistency, it almost appears to breathe. I poke the blood with a stick, and the stick gets caught in a tar-like liquid. I lightly try to tug the stick, and there's a little bit of give to it. I manage to pull it out, but it seemed like the "blood" was holding it in there. As we enter the southeastern cavern, we see a set of three levers near a minecart track. These levers seem similar to like a cockpit of a train, when holding the lever down it will do an action. This appears to be a mine, with minecart tracks strewn about. I sketch out the tracks and their junctions. Willow operates the 3 main levers, and manages to get the tracks to allow Diaga and I to cart over to the 4th lever. I operate the 4th lever to observe its behavior. Through Willow's and I's testing of the system, we manage to map out the behavior of the track junctions. As Diaga makes it to the second platform, there's a buzzing afoot. < BEGIN BATTLE 17 - THE MINESHAFT BEETLES>

Diaga gets attacked by two of the subterranean beetles. The beetles manage to reduce Diaga's armor's AC.

Diaga disengages from the beetles, and retreats from the third platform to the second platform, with Harvoni.

Harvoni readys an action to poke a Spear at the beetles, if and when it crawls up.

I lunge my spear at the beetle, and manage to miss. The saliva of the beetle drips onto the metal of the track, causing the track metal to rust. The beetle crawls for Diaga and Bites again, bearing its teeth on Diaga's armor.

Balrug pokes his head out at the commotion, refuses to elaborate, says hi, and dips back into the cave. We know we're headed in the right direction.

I pull the lever and send Diaga back to the main ruin.

The Beetle sniffs in the direction that Diaga left, more interested in that, but then turns to face me at the lever.

Willow casts Firebolt at the Beetle in front of me, and lands a fiery bolt of fire on it, leaving a burn mark on the side of the beetle. The Beetle returns to facing me.

The Beetle seemed to be able to aim for my chest/torso, and Bites at it, but misses twice.

Future versions of us execute brilliant attacks on the subterranean beetles.

More scuttling is heard from within the cave.

I try to cast Poison Spray on the creature, but miss horribly. I use my Bonus Action to set up a Mine near the subterranean beetle. The beetle on the second platform is vaguely interested in the Mine.

Future versions of us continue to attack the Beetles.

The Beetle manages to completely dodge my Mine, but bites its lip, dealing 5 damage.

The Beetle bites at my silver coins, melting 2 of the silver.

The Beetle manages to completely dodge my Mine AGAIN, melting 2 silver coints, and dealing 15 damage.

I try to Spear the Beetle *again*, and manage to miss TWICE. My frustration grows ever larger.

The Beetle on the second platform, sensing its friends are gone, retreats into the darkness.

Fueled by seething anger, I manage to land a Spear attack, and follow it up with a Poison Spray, killing it.

< END BATTLE 17 - THE MINESHAFT BEETLES> Willow and Balrug are on the other side of the mineshaft, and go out of sight to explore the caverns. <<< Willow does some sick ass aerobatics and nails all three chambers, massive poggers >>> Willow and Balrug navigate the minecarts back to Harvoni on the second platform, and we manipulate the levers to get all of us back to platform 1. We return back to the main cavernous portion of this cavern. I return to the party that was studying the Western Wall and its markings. We take a SHORT REST, and I expend Hit Dice to heal back to 59. Future Harvoni chats with me, and says they think they've got a way to remove all the rocks *without ruining the entire cave*. Future Harvoni says she needs my help with Runes to be able to take down part of the wall, making a little bit of tunnel to get through. Future Harvoni asks me if I have a spell that's capable of a range of 45ft. I decide to use Ice Knife, as it has a range of 60ft. Using Future Harvoni's notes, I fiddle around with [Experimental Casting Technology](https://www.worldanvil.com/w/aekko-heckinwar/a/experimental-casting-technology) to modify Ice Knife into an Acid Knife, to be able to chew through the stones. Current Octavious finds a wrought iron pickaxe with the following illustration carved on the bottom of the hilt:

I hold the pickaxe as I traverse down the tunnel. There's a fair amount of smashed barrels and destroyed pickaxes, and more dead Ice Golems without pools of blood. We emerge from the tunnel to a fork in the road with a Console containing seven (7) buttons: Red, Yellow, Green, Blue, Magenta, Brown, Grey. Returning to the original clues:

On the North wall, scribbled was: Y * E L U E * B R E E *

On the East wall, scribbled was: G U E W * R E W N * B

On the South wall, scribbled was: R L * O B G E O * N L

On the West wall, scribbled was: E B Y L L * N R G E U

Diaga goes down one of the corridors, and sees a plank named 'Captains Quarters'. Diaga spots a locked chest with a number pad. Diaga lifts up the carpet and spots a stairwell underneath the floor. The padlock is for five (5) numbers. There seems to be a piece of paper sticking out from the desk. I look at the piece of paper, and it appears to be a journal entry from the Mining Chief. The journal reads as follows: "Cold and dark, dank and dim//My men lined up for their rollcall//And in the order which we all had sworn//They all stood straight in the hall//First stood the grey, brown, and yellow teams//The fewest teams hit the paint first//Next the... [THIS PORTION OF THE PAGE IS SMUDGED]//Shortest to tallest they all took their shifts//Though the warmest-colored men ne'er arrived//And their letters numbered spell out a secret code//And my treasure you seek so shall you find" Dungeon Master Ryan provided a hint:

Keypad Hint: Write out the letters and read them in an order that is not left to right

Chest Hint: The order is the amount of times the colors appear, read the second last line to find what the numbers are

<THE NOTE FILE>: On the North wall, Y * E L U E * B R E E * On the East wall, G U E W * R E W N * B On the South wall, R L * O B G E O * N L On the West E B Y L L * N R G E U snake 1: E S W N E S W S E lol ryan moment snake 2: E S W N E S W N E G U E W * R E W N * B R L * O B G E O * N L E B Y L L * N R G E U Y * E L U E * B R E E * G U E W * R E W N * B R L * O B G E O * N L E B Y L L * N R G E U Y * E L U E * B R E E * G U E W * R E W N * B On the East wall, G U E W * R E W N * B On the South wall, R L * O B G E O * N L On the West E B Y L L * N R G E U On the North wall, Y * E L U E * B R E E * Console: Grey, Blue, Yellow, Blue, Green, Brown, Green, Blue (space) --- Grey, Brown, Yellow, Green (2), Blue (3) 4 5 6 5 4 < THE NOTE FILE> Diaga punches in Grey, Blue, Yellow, Blue, Green, Brown, Green, Blue (space) into the Console, and the Console becomes free of the cooling mist that was causing frostbite. Harvoni inputs '4 5 6 5 4' into the Chest. We find a white plate object that has a large magical effect to it, as well as:

3 Gold Ore

2 Fantasma Crystals

Ting-Triller: A custom magic item?

The Checkpoint before the Cave - Journal 14

Session 14 - 09/08/2024 ***the story so far*** As we approach the checkpoint, Guy and Octavious perk up and ask about the cart we find. As we share the details of the cart we located in the woods, the color drains from their faces, sensing something ghastly has occurred. We mention the skeleton that we found, and I pull out the Soul Bone (1), and hand it to Octavious. He feels along the grooves of the bone, recognizing something terrible has occurred. He remarks that this is linked to the "monster". Octavious gives up that they're from Heilagur, and mentions they are on a Quest involving the "monster" that has been ravaving the plateau. They weren't told why the monster was here, nor what it is. Octavious, Guy, and Radio walk up to the checkpoint, wind harsh and whipping around us. Snow is spattering our faces. "HALT" is shouted from someone high up. Octavious announces their presence, as the party "who headed out earlier today". The voice responds back, inquiring about the addition of guests. The two converse about our existence, and plead for us to be invited in to bear the harsh conditions of the night. The checkpoint gate opens up, and we head inside. There's a few igloos inside the courtyard. A white tarp is whipping above the wall, holding back some snow. Light radiates out from some of the igloos. What looks like an infantry barrack sits in the back. Octavious points out that we can crash in their igloo, but that preparations are being made at the time. Octavious offers us the ability to glean more information about their Quest, and reveals that they will be paid well if they can locate, and kill, the "monster." Octavious gives up that the "monster" can only be found by a yellow light in the middle of nowhere; the search region has been narrowed down to half a mile of river, but the snowstorm has been brutal. Octavious remarks that the checkpoint is concerned about finding the "princess of Heilagur" and not even worried about the supposed "monster" that roams the terrain, whereas R/G/O isn't even thinking about the "princess" at all. A Vomethndan pops out of the first igloo, and remarks to us they still need a little more time to clean up the igloo for us to stay in. We're then informed about "Karl Avsikter", and the general structure of Vomethndan ranking. ("Karl" is the title , and Avsikter is her last name - and holy shit is Avsikter hot asf). Avsikter represents a lot of people with the title of Karl, notably fisherman, different farmers in Heilagur, and hard-working individuals as a whole. We learn that Karl Avsikter is seemingly close/with knowledge about the "monster", having sighed when learned about it. Supposedly, Karl Avsikter remarked "'Blubby' needs to be removed for the good of the city.", and generally holding back details about the "monster". Avsikter's generally been providing information about the "monster", but also very reserved about other details. From what the Vomethdans have been told, the "monster" is quadripedal, 12ft tall, and vaguely horse-shaped. It can swim underwater, and the Vomethdans can only think of a Kelpie [somewhat mythical, horse-like and generally underwater dweller, almost unicorn-like. It has gross frog skin. They are very territorial and protective of creatures of the water, but Octavious is unsure on this.] as a close similarity. It can be seen by the light that emits off the top of its head. Scouting parties have been decimated, some members having been eaten whole. Intriguingly, Karl Avsikter mentioned it could be caught, "If the right supplies were had". The Vomethndans exit the igloo, and let us know the igloo is ready for our dwelling, and that if we need anything, to ask. If we hear anything in the night beyond the cries of the wind, to let the Vomethndans know. Octavious remarks, "If its able to take out whole packs of wolves, surely this 'monster' is to be reckoned with." and reminds us to NOT call out for the "princess of Heilagur". NPC Willow agrees, that we need money & that hunting the "monster" is a good idea and should be our current course of action. NPC Willow also thinks that while riding a 12ft aquatic beast is not safe, it would be fun. As we stand in the courtyard, we hear some laughter eminate from one of the igloos closest to the checkpoint barracks. There's the vague sound of glasses klinking. I enter our assigned igloo, and check out our sleeping quarters. There's a logpile in the igloo, unlit, but ready to be lit. There's a writing desk, and a large dirt floor in the center. There's large animal pelts scattered to help insulate the igloo. I kneel in front of the pile of logs, and using my hands cast Create Bonfire to light the pile of logs. The igloo is cozy, as I fall asleep early. I have a dream! I look around, and observe my childhood bedroom, exactly as I imagined it. All the toys strewn about, a bright sunny day. I wake up, and there's a knock on my door. A voice calls out to me to come outside, encouraging me to play with friends and play ball. I go outside to meet my friends, and I open the door from my bedroom and immediately find myself outside. There's a few friends in front of me, their faces kind of blurry, as I enter the backyard, visions of tossing a ball filling my mind. There's laughter, jolly moods, as one of the friends accidentally tosses a ball over the backyard fence. I go to retrieve the ball, and as I start walking towards it, the sun seems to be setting. The skies turn from a bright blue, orange, beautiful radiant, to a darker hue. As I move past the fencegate and into the forest, it's now the verge of nighttime, dusk enveloping the forest. There's a *deep* feeling of dread underlying me, and I feel like I'm in danger. From the darkness, there's a small sizzling noise, but I locate the ball. I approach the ball, sitting on the ground, embedded in a tuft of grass. As I focus on the ball, there's a white and blue light emanating from the darkness (the source of the sizzling bouncing off the baton). There's a large CRACK that fills my ears with awful memories, flooding through my head - people screaming in pain from electrical devices. I start to remember - this is the Old Electrical Batons that guards used to use in my hometown to "set examples" for found Shifters, who were revealed (purposefully or accidentally). They're coming for me. As I reach down for the ball, my hand is now a claw, animalistic in nature, as the Electrical Force is coming towards me. I pick up the ball and then run away, as fast as possible away from the Guards. There's a crackling sound that gets closer and closer, the pained screams in the dead of night becoming louder and louder. The darkness feels as if it's closing in, rushing to capture me. As I hop over the fence, I sit upright, shaken, and awake. My bed is covered in sweat. I'm visibly disturbed, checking my surroundings, and while my party remains asleep in the igloo, I exit the igloo to check the camp. I look around, and the storm seems to have calmed down. There's a vague orange aurora in the sky (at night, around the year, there's an aurora that shows up in the different poles of the continent, and it changes color based on the time of the year. The color of the aurora is what drove the names of the month!) Looking in to the aurora, it brings a wave of calm, but the night terrors persist in my head, remembering the light of the dream. [History Check] The orange aurora, to a normal person, indicates that its the month of Kisam. Since its on the edge of spring, it also symbolizes a period of transition, and also symbolizing putting the old to bed and living for the now, and brighter, newer beginnings. As I stand outside the igloo, I also notice that Radio is outside, looking up at the stars, seemingly feeling better. Radio is surprised that I'm standing there, and wonders what I'm doing up at this hour of the night. I dodge the question, and just tell Radio that I couldn't sleep. Radio talks about missing home, and also not being able to sleep. I ask Radio about their home, and Radio looks up into the sky - "Tagnuul" (a region of Ezlekh), and looks down at her claws, tracing out something on her hand, with a little pen, tracing a symbol, and remarks that "they gather information", for many people. Radio found themselves with Octavious and Guy, and calls them her "new home", but comments that sometimes you just miss "your old home". This "information trading" is the center of Tagnuul's economy, with different information centers being traded constantly (war, different people, different species), a very educated part of Ezlekh. I remind Radio that we always have to look forward to where we're going. Radio takes a big breath, and thanks me for the inspirational words. "Looking backwards isn't always the solution" -Radio, session 14. Radio lets out another wheezing cough, and Octavious calls out, "Get back in here, you'll catch a cold Radio!" Radio heads back in to the igloo. I also return into my own igloo, and I fall asleep once more. The sun rises, and all the igloos open up within the checkpoint camp. We meet a Salesman, who has a LOT of wares for sale. Diaga attempts to win items by winning games. (Diaga is searching for items to craft the Bow that can slay dragons) - Urtamrakh: Attilum, Hair(Fey) +3, Mushroom (GSPM) +3 - the mushroom is apparently in Ezlekh I try to recall this mushroom - The swamps around Mercommernaut provides an ideal environment for it as it provides the proper climate and the favored host for the fungus, the red maple tree. Octavious is intriuged by this Bow. I wish Diaga luck with the Salesman. All of a sudden, the Salesman runs out of the igloo, hotly pursued by Diaga and Roger. The Salesman cries something about feeling cheated, as the Salesman is chased by Diaga, Roger, and Willow up the walls. The Salesman is slain. On his possession is a sturdy chest, with an Arcane Locked Box. A Vomethndan Guard approaches us, and asks if there's any problem. He... unfortunately notices the dead Salesman. The Vomethndan Guard orders the checkpoint camp gates to be closed. (... surely this will go well). We discuss with R/G/O about leaving the camp to go search for "Blubby", but get stopped by the Vomethndan Guards. The Guards press us (little judgemental), and struggle to believe our innocence. Radio backs up Willow's insistence to lead an "investigation", followed by Guy and Octavius. Willow manages to cast Prestidigitation, and proceeds to lead on the Vomethndan Guards. Incredibly, it works, and like the end of a Dreamworks movie, Willow (and Roger) manage to get the Vomethndan Guards in a dance. Suddenly, a ghost lets out a horrid wail from beyond the checkpoint camps' wall. This seems to be enough to convince the Vomethndan Guards to let us leave the checkpoint camp. As we leave, Balrug mentions that the snow seems soft, and then we fuckin plummet into a hole in the ground (this irony is not lost upon us). We approach the hole, impressed by its staggering size (that's what she said), and strategize how to deal with this encounter. We descend into the giant Cave. There appears to be vague shadowy figures running across the walls of the Cave, dimly lit, with only a few torches at the bottom of the pit. We spot a strange man in the distance, seemingly challenging the monsters of the pit. Suddenly, a bunch of clones pop out (clones of all of us appear, Harvoni Clone, Willow Clone, Diaga Clone, R/G/O clones, etc.)

The Wintery Checkpoint - Session 13

Session 13 - 08/16/2024 ***the story so far*** I trot up to one of the Mechanicus soldiers, and bash his head in using my Hooves. Diaga kicks the other Mechanicus' knees in, bringing him down, as Roger deals a headshot, finishing the job. The Promatican Fort has been vanquished, the field tattered with the remains of the proud Vomethndan soldiers and the slain Promatican mercenaries. With our Warforged Bombadier in tow, we resume our plans to travel to Heilagur to visit <WHO THE FUCK IS THE GUY>. During the journey, I manage to gather:

+1 nickel

+1 lead

As we fill our pockets with goodies, the snow starts to pick up, our footsteps heavier, the river covered in layers of frost and snow, with rapids poking through, a blanket of snow covering everything. There's no landmarks out this far North to direct us towards. As we trudge on, Willow and Roger seem to be struggling in the snow a little, Exhausted (1) with each step. Through the snowy midst, Willow starts to make her way over towards a mound near the river. This mount has some detail to it, almost like a lumpy structure no bigger than 8ft, maybe hollow? Diaga calls out to the lump, but the wind dampens his call. The lumpy mass sort of looks handmade in a way. Diaga notices there's a broken wooden wagon wheel near the lump, and still doesn't get a reply. We walk forward and get a full view - this wagon has been here a while, sitting in the wind. It almost blends perfectly in to the surroundings. However, there's little clues that don't add up -

there's marks on the wooden frame on the wagon, indicating deep lacerationns

the carapice has large holes in in

the broken wheels on the left side, away from the river, are beyond mangled to the point of comprehension

As we look through the cracks of the wagon, we see one (1) Soul Bone. The Soul Bone seems to be an arm bone of some kind, upper arm specifically. It's a little unclear why its laying out, propped up, but its leaning against a hefty object, that has a black sheen amidst the snow. Once again, there's *deep* lacerations, teeth or maybe claws with great size. This is a jagged edge, so something natural. I call out to Diaga and let him know these lacerations are made by some kind of anvil. I reach out for the Soul Bone, I feel a *deep* dread as I reach for it. There's something almost watching me, given how this is set up, as it immediately washes away when i pick it up. The air doesn't change, but I'm on edge - something may be nearby. As I rub my hands over this Soul Bone, I get a closer look. There's jagged edges are somewhat smoothed over. There was some kind of struggle with this Humanoid figure, but the jagged parts being rounded means its likely been some time since this attack happened.

+1 Soul Bone

There's a sort of black/grey surface that it was leaning on, with a glint of purple, that sparkles amongst the light, right under the bone. While still uneasy about the situation, Roger feels inspired by the barren snow, and starts to play a set of Bagpipes. Willow is silently dying inside. Willow calmly takes the bagpipes away from Roger. Roger blames the wind and asks for a second chance - Willow relents. Roger Diaga vaguely looks around the cart, not spotting any kind of creature. Whatever attacked this cart, its hard to tell if it even entered. As Diaga combs the grounds around the cart, looking for signs of a struggle, Diaga notices a brown stain beneath the powder of the snow. Looking further, it's like a mucky brown, not exactly soil. Diaga presumes its dried blood, a pathway going from the destroyed left wheels, curving around and towards the river. Diaga follows the path. Diaga locates more bones, pattered here and there, which stick over the dried blood. There's a lot of intricate hand bones, heading towards the river. Diaga ushers to the Vomethndan accompanying us for more information about the area. He looks around, not really able to provide any further guidance, but points towards a divet that a bunch of water seems to be flowing to. Per the Vomethndan's guidance, he recommends going deeper into the forest to avoid the weather. We move Northwest into the forest, away from the river. Roger delights us with another Bagpipes tune - Willow cannot be bothered to join in, failing to play her own set of Bagpipes. Roger is now a fan of two chords. We travel enough of a distance to be able to gather more materials. I GAIN:

+1 nuts (+0)

Sensing we're better protected from the elements having gone deeper in the woods, we start discussing nightly shifts and potential crafting opportunities. We draw straws for the night shift - I take the first shift awake, Diaga the second. As the night passes, everyone is sound asleep. Willow and Roger seem to recover a little bit. As I keep watch, nothing really happens around us, but I do notice my compatriot Diaga is turning quite a lot during their sleep, unable to get comfortable, almost muttering something. Diaga starts worming away from the camp. I watch this worming, with Diaga worming for a solid minute. Without my Darkvision, Diaga would be GONE. Diaga then gets about her senses, and slowly drags the bedroll back. Seeing no better time, I wake Diaga up from their slumber to exchange night shifts. We wake up in the morning, an ember still laying in the fire. Snow has picked up a little bit, but the tree cover has shieled us a little bit. We decide to wait out the blizzard that's upon us. We head off into the distance, and gather:

+1 leaf (-1)

We manage to meet a strange lad named Balrug. Balrug introduces us to the rest of his adventuring crew, affectionately identifying themselves as O, G, and R. Balrug tells us they're headed to an outpost to investigate weird disappearances that have been happening, probably due to a monster. Balrug's crew is having issues with the weather, and mentions they're headed back to an encampment, and offers us a stay. We accept, and G leads the eight (8) of us in the direction of the camp. Roger and Willow duke it out on the way to the camp, Bagpiping it up. The sound is acceptable. Willow manages to perform better than Roger (definitely cementing her victory and rubbing it in Roger's face, the rivalry forever confirmed). As we travel on with this new adventuring party, the snow feels heavier, with each step i feel more and more Exhausted (1). Despite my slowness, I manage to gather:

+1 stone (-2)

+1 nickel

O: Big man G: Small bear eared lady R: Bird person As we travel on, there seems to be a hidden emblem on one of the robes of the adventurer. They're not exactly trying to hide it, but it's interesting that they're wearing multiple robes, covering it. We trade stories about why we're out here in the frozen north, while not giving away too much, despite the Vomethndan exposing the fact we are severely underprepared. <im literally so tired i need to check with Ryan what the fuck happens at this point, im so lost, cannot take good notes> As we get to the camp, Willow meets a (what??) bird person, who seems to be miffed? radio announcer? conversation with willow - tear on the edge of his eye? a full band sound? R is shivering to their core for some reason G looks over, "this isn't good, we gotta make it to the camp sometime soon, i don't think R can make it another night" radio??? Octavius, Guy, and Radio (are their names) Guy hasn't slowed down at all since being out here??? Willow gets a bit of a glimpse and sees they're not wearing a glove on one hand - its an Arcsthetic Hand, a beefier one. thicker fingers, little gaskets. *hand is acknowledged* ROCKET ARM!?!?! "the problem with our party is that we have 2 other party members we're trying to meet in a few days, but I was always the one who struggled with rage, but NOT ANYMORE, (knocking on the arm)" willow is carrying the end of this session thank god radio speaks up, "the princess!!" and octavious then "its the princess of heilagur!" a carriage?????

The Storming of the Fort - Session 12

Session 12 - 08/03/2024 ***the story so far*** Having slain the last of the Promatican troops that were flanking the Vomethndan soliders in front of us, all of a sudden, a giant tank shell descends from the sky, shattering the boat. Diaga strolls up to one of the other Vemthndans to ask what happened. The Vomethndan soldier tells us they were trying to reclaim a base that was overseiged. The Vomethndan states that the Ezlehks bought out the Promatican mercenaries in the area, which would explain why they were fighting. The Vomethndans tried coming up to the fort by the river, but they were caught and forced to battle. To the Vomethndan, this seemed like a warning spar, as other soldiers ran back. (Here's to hoping there's not another shell inbound.) I walk up to the Warforged Vomethndan, who appears to be repairing the launcher embedded in his arm. I put my hand on his shoulder and cast Guidance, while asking if he needs help. The Warforged thanks me, and I ask why there was fighting. The Warforged explains, how they were cut off from the river, and that a few other troops ran back to the fort. We're told there's a high-ranking Vomethndan inside the fort, and that if we get this high-ranking official to Heilagur, we'll be compensated nicely. As we approach the fort, we're told of some objectives: - clear out the mines - disable the magic suppressor generator - get power to the gate so the tank can be rescued from the fort < BEGIN BATTLE 16 - THE RIVER BASE BRAWL>

As we enter the front gate of the portcullis, Roger smacks me upside the temple, dealing 4 damage. At least his packed weapon works -_-. Roger then heals me.

Diaga tries to detect hostiles - Diaga senses some hostiles, but they appear in-animate.

Roger and I split towards the left door, while Willow and Diaga split towards the right door.

Diaga spots a tripwire and a mine in the Right corridor, and calls us over to look at it so we know.

I return to the Left corridor, while Roger stays in the Right corridor.

I pick off a torch from the wall, and use it to slowly make my way across the hall. I manage to spot a mine, and avoid it.

- I enter into the next room to the Left. I inspect a suit of armor - its very Ornate, with Sigils (could be enchanted)? could be a husk of a Warforged. The Sigils are meant to animate the armor - it could be operated remotely. I learn that Sigils are a more modern version of Runic Magic.

The suit seems to contain a Power Cell. With the Warforged's assistance, I manage to take the Power Cell from the suit of armor, along with a piece of a hand still attached to the Power Cell (this may be important later owo)

With the Warforged's assistance, I lower the suit of armor down, on its back, almost as if its sleeping.

As I proceed to the next room, the Promatican Guards were ready for me, and launch a ballista bolt that strikes me square. I duck to the side. The Warforged prepares to charge the door. I prepare to follow behind the Warforged.

As we enter, the Warforged aims a Rifle at the Promatican guards, hitting the two front soldiers with a Lightning in a Bottle.

I equip my Rocket Skates, and move past the Warforged to chuck a Firebomb at the soldiers. It lands, but they manage to dodge.

The two front guards advance on me. One of them slings bones my way, landing a hit, while the other tosses a can of Whale Diesel Oil, drenching me in the process.

The Warforged advances forward and fires off two Rifle shots, nailing the Promatican who doused me in fuel. The Warforged chucks a Healing Potion Lvl 1, healing me for 8.

The Promatican soldiers advance hard, managing to Poison me and dealing lots of damage. The third soldier charges the Warforged, plunging a Spear at it.

Growing weary of this battle, I Wild Shape into a Giant Elk. I draw back with the intent to Charge, but get Opportunity Attacked by two of the soldiers, taking half my health out.

The Warforged manages to Shove one of the soldiers, and I move forward to crush it under my Hooves.

The third soldier lays down a Bear trap to block my path, and backs off, to fire two bolts at my head. It's strong enough to knock me out of my Giant Elk form, as the second soldier follows up to deal additional damage to my physical body.

I dodge to the right of the Bear Trap, transforming into a Saber-Tooth Tiger, Pouncing on the third ranged soldier, managing to knock him Prone in the process. I slash greatly at the soldier with my claws and my ferocious bite.

The Warforged Bombadier, having two full shots, fires at the close soldier, missing the first shot but critically hitting on the second, the bullet blasting open the Promatican soldiers' head.

Tackling the third soldier, I once again Bite and Claw at it, dealing the finishing blow.

< END BATTLE 16 - THE RIVERSIDE SCUFFLE> Uncontested in the Western Hallway, I loot the three soldiers in the corridor, gaining:

2 Smokescreen

1 Bloody Shortsword

1 Venon Longbow

3 Blood (+2) done

Leaded Bone Caestus

Feathered Bow Sling

8 Sling Bullets

Whetstone

1 Spear

1 Shortsword

1 Firebomb

Tag-teaming with Roger and Diaga, we prepare to breach the remaining northwest corner. As we breach, we're greeted with a sight of horror. In the middle of the room stands a suspicious figure, alongside three patients lying in beds. Immediately suspicious of our surroundings, I critically observe the room: These "patients" are undead of sorts, but not brought back to life via magic, but rather via pumps and machines that are manipulating the bodies to move. This "doctor" is tinkering with something that either controls it, or is trying to improve it in some way. Each creature is wearing Vomethndan gear, very similar to the Vomethndans that we met at the shoreline. I spar with words with the Doctor, who irritates me at the abject horror of using death Vomethndan soldiers as "undead" warriors. I cannot stand this perverse violation of Nature, so I lunge at the Doctor. < BEGIN BATTLE 17 - THE DOCTOR OF UNDEATH>

I lunge at the Doctor with my dagger, failing to land a blow.

Roger tries to Hex the Doctor. In one fell swoop, Roger manages to kill the Doctor.

Diaga assists with the murder of the Doctor, and finishes by striking at the "undead" Vomethndan soldiers, killing one of them

I Spear the remaining zombie.

< END BATTLE 17 - THE DOCTOR OF UNDEATH> On the table to the side, we discover a schematic of sorts. This schematic is meant to be used in the construction of Reanimators.

2 Teeth (-1)

1 Root (-1)

Rooted Thorn Dueling Cane

Unidentified Consumable

Poison Lvl 2

4 Medicinal Tincture Lvl 2

4 Healing Potion Lvl 2

1 Draught of Plague

1 Choke Dust

1 Potion of Madness

I hand Diaga and Willow:

1 Medicinal Tincture Lvl 2 (remove 2)

1 Healing Potion Lvl 2 (remove 2)

We exit the Northwestern Tower, and make our way back to the courtyard. We find a center room locked shut. I assist Diaga by using my torch to weaken the lock. Diaga manages to strike the lock, breaking it open. I hand the Vomethndan soldiers the Power Cell, with the hand very much still attached. The Vomethndans manage to get the vehicle powered back up using the Power Cell. I keep the Armored Hand for myself. - +1 Armored Hand As we stroll over to the front of the Fort, we get sprung by the remaining Promatican troops in the bunks and kitchen. < BEGIN BATTLE 18 - THE REMAINING FORT FUCKERS >

The battle promptly ensues with Roger casting a sphere of Darkness on the group of 4 soldiers. Our ultimate goal is to stall long enough for the Tank to start up.

Diaga and I charge at the witch doctor and the blind woman, dealing considerable amounts of damage.

Willow does her best.

The Promatican soldiers fight back in full force, dousing Diaga and I in a Firebomb.

It's a little unclear what's happening to the Witch Doctor, but the Blind Woman pummels me to near-death with her Caestus.

I retreat, drawing an opportunity attack that reverts my Wild Shape, returing in a field of blindness. As I exit the field, my vision is restored, and I catch the Witch Doctor fleeing to the side of the building.

Willow tries to Ram - it doesn't work.

The armada of Warforged assist in the defense, raining considerable hellfire.

Roger and Diaga work together to take on the fleet of soldiers as the field of Darkness dissipates.

I chase after the Witch Doctor, missing the Ram.

I dodge a second Draught of Plague.

The Tank corners the Witch Doctor, Mowing it down twice, fully destroying the Promatican Medicus and all its items.

As the Vomethndans start celebrating, a rumble is felt underneath the ground, as a Promatican Tank emerges from the ground, fully destroying the Vomethndan Tank. PHASE 2 NOW

The Promatican Tank spews a cone of fire directly on Roger, Diaga, and the Warforged Trench Breaker. Roger and Diaga manage to dodge, but the Trench Breaker sustains injuries.

I get Mowed by the Promatican Tank, and try to Ram it. I manage to hit the Tank, but don't deal any damage.

Diaga manages to put a significant dent in the Drill Bit.

The Promatican Tank (DT-30 Neavus) burrows.

We scatter.

The Promatican Tank (DT-30 Neavus) re-emerges from the ground.

The Promatican Tank (DT-30 Neavus) spews a cone of fire on Roger and one of the Warforged Bombadiers. Roger takes a meaty amount of fire, and the Warforged Bombadier burns to a crisp.

The Promatican Tank (DT-30 Neavus) spins around and spews a second cone of fire, aiming at the other Warforged Bombadier and Willow Ulgen. Willow spectacularly fails to dodge the fire and gets knocked down hard.

Roger casts Hex at the Promatican Tank (DT-30 Neavus), dealing a combined 6 damage to the hull, pushing over the damage threshold.

I charge at the Tank in all my Giant Elky goodness, but snag my antlers on the ground, rolling into the tank with my back.

The two remaining Warforged help Diaga flank the Promatican Tank (DT-30 Neavus). Diaga manages to squeak in some hits. The Fire Cannon is visibly damaged, but seems to still be able to work.

The Warforged Bombadier sets up two clean shots on the Promatican Tank (DT-30 Neavus), destroying the Fire Cannon and the Super Drill.

The Warforged Trench Breaker targets the Treads of the Promatican Tank (DT-30 Neavus), gaining advantage from the Flank, with its Lance and Blunderbuss. The Trench Breaker deals visible damage, making the Hull visibly troublesome.

A Promatican Mechanicus crawls out from the Promatican Tank (DT-30 Neavus) to heal the Super Drill. It works, and aims a crossbow at the Trench Breaker, killing it.

The Tank starts to burrow down, and Diaga and I Opportunity Attack the Promatican Tank (DT-30 Neavus). The drill is destroyed again, and the Promatican Tank (DT-30 Neavus) moves away.

Roger shoots the Tank with Eldritch Blast, using Hex as additional damage. His attack seems to visibly damage the Hull.

Diaga attacks the Treads of the Tank, managing to chip the Treads but deflecting off the Hull.

The remaining Warforged Bombadier uses a Healing Potion to heal Willow Ulgen, bringing her back up. It then shoots at the Tank, deflecting off the Hull.

The Promatican Mechanicus teleports back into the tank, as a second one pops out to Mend the Fire Cannon. It then aims a Hand Crossbow, pelting me.

I charge in my Giant Elky form at the Promatican Mechanicus, goring him to death.

Roger aims Eldritch Blast at the Hull, compromising its integrity. The Tank is definitely less sturdy now.

Diaga attacks the top turret, dealing a modest amount of damage and destroying it once more.

Diaga then attacks the Tank Treads, causing more cracks.

The Warforged Bombadier disables the Tank Treads, rendering the Tank motionless.

Two more Promatican Mechanicus soldiers pop out of the tank, waving a white flag. They are ushered towards the wall.

< END BATTLE 18 - THE REMAINING FORT FUCKERS > I trot up to one of the Mechanicus soldiers, and bash his head in using my Hooves. Diaga kicks the other Mechanicus' knees in, bringing him down, as Roger deals a headshot, finishing the job. The Promatican Fort has been vanquished, the field tattered with the remains of the proud Vomethndan soldiers and the slain Promatican mercenaries.

The River Riots to Heilagur- Session 11

Session 11 - 07/19/2024 ***the story so far*** Captain Mathur remarks we can hold our own in combat. Despite Mathur's comments, Roger insists he did not get hit. Diaga asks Captain Mathur what the creatures are, and Mathur informs us that the town of Eyju calls them "Howlers", since they screech and remove sound. We agree to take a long rest as Captain Mathur resumes sailing the boat to the town of Eyju, and gather some materials in the process. As we turn into the town of Eyju, we were approached by a large Goliath figure, who proceeded to instantly grope Roger. The Goliath proclaimed that Roger was here to save us, and gives Roger 13 silver pieces, mentioning that "you'll hear the voices soon". 80% of the town is dedicated to Roger now, as Roger is the "God Who Will Kill The Ezlekhs", a Bardagi, the God of War. Roger is now referred to as "Roger The Bloody". As the party went to sleep, Diaga had a dream, hearing a hole calling out to him, from the south, southeast. It's an eerily familiar feeling. During the long rest, one of the Sending Stones that Roger and I took received a transmission saying to "meet up at the docks." Roger threw them in the street and went back to bed. Someone may be on to us... As we wake up at the inn, the town is still covered in a blanket of fog. I managed to find:

Petals (+0)

Wood Stick (+1)

As the sun rises, we deduce that Bardagi doesn't really have a Church in a town this small, but there's probably some small gathering spaces near craftsman where worksmans worship the God of War. The town seems more active, as people are bustling about, but we catch some glances of awe as we wander through town. We approach a small market, with a larger raft connecting all the small shops together. This market seems to be making fishing gear, but each shop also seems to be making armors for a war- or seafaring battle, and even some harpoons and crossbows. Through the merchant, I buy:

2 petals (+0)

1 fin (-1)

I also help Roger craft some armor by lending him by Eyes (+2). We approach the Bardagi altar - its very simple, but its hard to make out what we see. There's a sort of male on an anvil piece, but its very worn down. Roger tried giving the altar some blood, nearly killing himself in the process. The Sending Stone in his bag gave him advice to go north. Willow met a Giant Goliath, by way of shoving, and learned how to make Wallflower Moonshine. Willow also got a note about her sister (big pog). As I'm walking around, I notice a rather eccentric figure wearing fancy clothes - this person is really out of place. I don't recognize this figure, but they're maddeningly jotting stuff down in a notebook. I cutestly skip to the old man, and peer into his notebook, and the notebook is filled with Runic notes, almost as if they're trying to combine Runes. I ask the man their name, and learn the old man is named Glen Envis. I learn Glen is a Rune Artist by trade, and came to Eyju for inspiration for new enchantments. Rune Artists specialize in Runic Arts (see: Runesmith), but Envis' dad insists we're artists. I offer up my name. Glen tells me more about some enchantments he's working on - its tough because of Mystic dominating the arts and tech nowadays. Envis remisses that nobody really cares about Runes anymore. I share up my weather notes from Kappi. Glen Envis tells me about his shop, entitled Heilagan Runes, if you want to learn REAL Runes. Glen whispers that we're the oldest Rune shop. He's gonna head off via boat in about a day, in the afternoon. I thank Glen for his time and give him a wink ;). I meet back up with the group, and they let me know they had an amazing performance with out me (a small tear....). Willow hands me 11 silver from the performance. We wander over to a fisher guild - yet another market selling wares. Willow spots a large Goliath woman standing at the back of the fisher market, and ascertains this Goliath woman is in charge, providing instructions to other workers. Turns out, *this* is the Yarl! Or so they claim. Willow questions them if they're the Yarl, but there's no recognition. This "Yarl" is at least aware of Roger the Bloody, but figures we're traveling with Roger given that we're asking weird questions (we're apparently the talk of the town). We make our way back to the rest of the town as the sun dips under the horizon. Roger scuttles away with Willow back to the market to get his items as Diaga leads me back to Captain Mathur's house for the night. Captain Mathur's place is very... quaint. A very small shack, if you will. But hey, it's a roof and a place to sleep. Willow and Roger return from the market with Roger's items to Captain Mathur's shack. Mathur comments that he's just packing up a few things. The four of us follow Captain Mathur to his boat, who hobbled his way to the boat. This Captain Mathur is more of a purple dwarven man, with a bright white beard. Despite my unease about Mathur's present condition (i could be tripping) and the fact we're leaving in the dead of night, I push aside my suspicions and take the first shift sleeping. During my shift keeping guard, I see Roger stirring, but I can't make out why. It looks like Roger is talking to a mildly annoyed rat. After the annoying conversation with the rat, Roger turns to me, mumbles "Death is upon us", and chucks the Sending Stone before falling back to sleep. Come morning, Diaga recounts another weird dream about a bear and a pit. I pretend to make sense of it, but it's a strange dream so who knows what it means. Diaga insists we should head South. As we sailed North, I manage to gather:

Petals (-1)

Straw (-1)

As we sail North, the Captain seems a little less funnier than usual. The Captain tries to get Roger to share with the class the phrase he was shouting, as Captain Mathur gets struck with a crossbow bolt right between his eyes. Just over the port side of the ship, there seems to be a scuffle happening between some very serious bands of fighters. In front of our eyes is a group of Promaticans fighting a group of Vomethndans < BEGIN BATTLE 15 - THE RIVERSIDE SCUFFLE>

As we dock, its clear there's a scuffle going on between a small group of Vomethnda fighters and Promatican soldiers are fighting. It's concerning that Promatican soldiers are this deep in Vomethndan territory, much less *fighting*.

WE DECIDE TO ASSIST THE VOMETHNDAN FIGHTERS AND TAKE DOWN THE PROMATICAN SOLDIERS (World Politic - Altered)

I move forward and cast Entangle on a large mass of the enemies.

Willow casts Shatter on the back rank of Promatican soliders

Roger summons a weapon and walks forward.

Diaga sprints forward to attack a Promatican solider in the vines.

A Vomethndan Warforged Bombadier tosses a Lightning in a Bottle at the front rank of Promatican soldiers.

The Promaticans push forward, starting to escape from the Entanglement, as one of them greases Diaga up and tosses a Firebomb on the whale diesel spill.

Willow steps forward and casts Fairy Fire, enveloping the entire Promatican forces.

Roger effectively slices a Promatican mercenary's head off.

Diaga pummels the mercenary who lit him on fire, right into the ground.

The Warforged Bombadier heals up Diaga

The last Promatican gets sliced down, ending the battle.

< END BATTLE 15 - THE RIVERSIDE SCUFFLE> Before the Vomethndan soldiers have time to look around and thank us, a giant tank shell descends from the sky, shattering the boat.

The Silent Waters of Lake Insjö - Session 10

Session 10 - 07/13/2024 ***the story so far*** After a lengthy discussion, we decide to head Eyju, the town in the middle of Lake Insjö. Over the course of our three day journey to Lake Insjö, on day 2 as we head towards the lake we begin to get a very strange feeling, almost like a tradewind breeze blowing you towards the lake. It gets harsher and harsher the closer we get to the lake. At the apex of the wind's strength, we reach the edge of a massive cavern - we're at the top of the foothills surrounding the lake. Down below, we see a thick layer of fog covering the top of the lake, and a few spires poking through the rolling fog. In the distance, we see a large spire, with flashes of light in the distance. The town is definitely in the middle of the lake - its about a day's swim to the town. Harvoni decides to look for a boat, while Diaga and Roger take in the distant light pulses and watches keenly (its a big world). In the distance far off, I spot what *looks* like a ship, or a boat. There's a silhouette, but with all the fog its kind of hard to tell. Willow and I walk in that direction. As I walk towards the ship silhouette, I manage to obtain:

icky, gooey, ooey, fluid (-1) (Blue)

As we approach the silhouette, it becomes clear that the shape is of a smaller boat. We call out to the boat to see if anyone's there. Roger drowns us out completely. What appears to be a silhouette of a person waves at us. We approach the figure. There's a dwarven man. The dwarven man tells us he ran out of gas, and got moored on the shoreline. The man seems very attached to his boat. The dwarven man tells us his boat is named 'Anya'. There's no sails on the boat, and the dwarven man is insulted that we would even ask the question. The man tells us that nobody typically comes to the southern shore of Lake Insjö. The dwarven man asks for our help to make some diesel to fill the tank - in exchange, he'll take us wherever we need to go. The dwarven man tells us what we should need is south of where we're at. The dwarven man hands us the recipe for whale diesel canisters:

1 Red, 0 Green, 2 Blue

the dwarven man needs 3 cans of whale diesel to power Anya. He hands us each an iron ingot (Red) to do as we wish. Giving indication that the materials are south of us, I head south to start gathering materials. While there, I manage to gather the following for whale diesel canisters:

Blood (+2)

Fin (+1)

I then head back to the dwarven man. As I come back, I notice Roger has already made some whale diesel canister. I ask Roger if he's willing to teach me how to make them - Roger says he'll do it for 1 Gold. Annoyed, I turn to the dwarven man. With a sly smile looking at Roger, the dwarven man turns to me and says he'll teach me.... for 9 silver. I'm annoyed at both of them, but happy they've got a vibe going. I hand over the materials I gather. With his three cans of whale diesel, the dwarf hops into his small boat, and tells us he can take us anywhere. The dwarven man has no idea what "Roger's Foot" is. The dwarf does know where Eyju is, and as he fills up his tanks, the rudders lift out from the sand and push the ship into the lake. It's eerily like feet. We set out on the lake, and plunge into the fog. As we journey to the town of Eyju, we learn its a sizeable fishing town, and completely floats on Lake Insjö. There is a lighthouse that it rests on, anchored to the bottom of the lake. I ask the dwarven man if we can fish, and he says yes, but tells us there's been some weird things bubbling up from the bottom of the lake. I attempt to fish, and gain:

Venom (+0) (Blue)

We learn of the dwarven man's name - his name is Mathur. Mathur asks us why we're up at Lake Insjö. Diaga hands him a flyer for the music festival that's gonna occur in Utdanning, and we explain how we're spreading the word. Mathur is curious about the state of Utdanning. I tell Mathur how Utdanning is presently occupied by Promatican mercenaries. Mathur isn't surprised - he explains how Promaticus in the past nearly took over the entire country, back when Vomethnda was a wee country. The young leader of Promaticus prophesiced a great astronomical event, wiping the Promaticans of the ability to cast magic (according to the history books). The wee nations of Ezlekh and Vomethnda fought back against Promaticus, eventually ending in a treaty declaration that allowed Promaticus to exist so long as they don't have a standing army. Mathur remarks the treaty was made because no one wanted to wander into the darkly-tainted magical lands of Promaticus. As Mathur rambles on, we notice his voice gets quieter, and quieter, and quieter. Mathur doesn't notice we're talking to him anymore. As Diaga taps his shoulder, Mathur mouths the word "what", and a panicked look appears in his eyes. Mathur suddenly draws his gun, and fires a shot - we don't hear anything. I try to cast Detect Magic, but nothing really happens. Everything is deathly silent. Diaga pulls up the entire fishing line out, lure and all, but the fishing line is floating in the air - the strands snap, and falls back in the water. Diaga is pissed and throws down his rod - not a sound comes from it. < BEGIN BATTLE 14 - SILENCE OVER THE WATERS OF LAKE INSJÖ >

Off in the distance, a creature emerges from the lake. A grey blob, with a sharpened beak protruding out of it.

Roger aims the cannon at the front of the boat at the monster, and a large bolt of energy fires out - it doesn't even come close though. The exhaust of the cannon pushes the boat back, and a cartridge ejects out.

The beaks of the creature extend wide, almost as if it's screaming - we don't hear anything. It starts to fade away. As Roger aims, the water beneath the boat churns, almost as if its alive, and crawls up the boat. It reaches out and tries to grab Roger

A Water Elemental emerges at the front of the boat, and attempts to thrash Roger with waves.

A second beaked-blobby squid creature emerges on the right side of the boat, before diving under the waters again.

Diaga sees a weird blob fly straight towards her before it disappears (on the starboard side). A slimy tendril schlumps off the back of Diaga's armor.

A similar blob appears in front of Harvoni, before it too disappears right in front of me. A mighty chunk is taken out of my shoulder, from what feels like a beak. I still don't see it.

Another blob attacks Roger as he's reloading the cannon.

I dive into the water, clutching my shoulder, as I transform into a Giant Octopus. I speedily swim to the front of the boat, and lunge my tentacle at the Water Elemental. I land a blow on the Water Elemental, and grapple it with my large tentacle.

Diaga attacks the creature in front of him, and manages to go for a second attack... and misses horrifically. But as he hits, the creature is struck hard enough, and a field of Silence is dropped.

Willow seizes the opportunity and casts a Cloud of Daggers at one of the beaked-blobby creatures.

Captain Mathur aims his handgun at one of the creatures, and nails a shot. The creature falls back to the lakebed.

One of the flying beaked blobs stabs Roger in the neck, taking flesh.

The Water Elemental manages to break out of my Giant Octopus grapple, and Slams me with two waves for ruthless impact.

Willow feels a presence and gets bitten by one of the beaked blobby flyers. Willow feels a field of Silence.

Diaga tries to swing at the invisible blobby beak that's knawing at him. All of a sudden, a corpse appears in front of Diaga.

I lunge at the Water Elemental with my Tentacle again, striking it with my suction cups.

Willow re-casts a Cloud of Daggers, directly on the Water Elemental, dealing pointy amounts of damage.

Roger shoots a cannonball at the Water Elemental - the bolt of energy streaks out of the cannon and plunges in the lake below, seemingly unaffecting the creature.

There's a weird beak that touches my fleshy Octopus hide, and takes out a bit of flesh in the process.

Roger gets beaked at, and falls, incapacitated by the attack.

The Water Elemental just phases through my Tentacle - guess it wasn't grappled, despite it being a creature, or so I thought.

Willow feels yet another weird feeling, but manages to evade the attack.

Willow tries to go and save Roger, narrowly dodging an attack thanks to Diaga's protection.

I swim, and lunge my Octopussy self at the Water Elemental, failing to land a hit.

Diaga swings at the space in front of him, the weight of his Mace striking something, killing it in the process. Diaga spits on the corpse of the fallen beak blob.

Captain Mathur does a sidestep and tries to shoot the Water Elemental - the bullet strikes the Water Elemental squarely in the chest.

One of the beak blobs screeches, casting another field of Silence. Roger hates this, but it doesn't seem to affect him.

One of the beak blobs casts Hold Person on Diaga, who beats the spell.

The Water Elemental goes to Slam Diaga with punishing waves, whipping Diaga back. "

I slam my Tentacle down on the Water Elemental's head, cracking its watery skull in two with force, killing it, as the Water Elemental fades into a puddle, splashing into nothingness.

Willow aims for one of the flying beaked blob, nailing her shot on the blob.

Roger aims for the last blob with a blast of Eldritch Blast. His aim is good, firing two blasts at the creature, knocking it out of the sky as it plops into the water.

I loot the Water Elemental and gain:

fluid (+1)

< END BATTLE 14 - SILENCE OVER THE WATERS OF LAKE INSJÖ > Captain Mathur remarks we can hold our own in combat. Despite Mathur's comments, Roger insists he did not get hit. Diaga asks Captain Mathur what these creatures are, and Mathur informs us that the town of Eyju calls them "Howlers", since they screech and remove sound. We agree to take a long rest as Captain Mathur resumes sailing the boat to the town of Eyju, and gather some materials in the process. During the long sailing to Lake Insjö, I gain:

Attilum (+3) ****a very rare material, found in very small quantites of Vomethnda, known for its inherent magical opportunities.

Blood (+0)

Wystic Weather Woes - Session 9

Session 9 - 06/30/2024 ***the story so far*** I thank the professor for his time, and he lets me know he lives in one of the Teacher's Hall. I can also knock on his door anytime. He lets me know his name - Professor Vishara, Department of Mystek Technologies. As I head over to the Geomancy Wing, I spot Roger and Diaga hanging up posters for the music competition. I give them a thumbs up and a little wave. Mercommernaut Era ? I reach the Geomancy Wing, and I see most of the classrooms are closed, lights off, but there's one hall that is filling with students. There seems to be a class in one of the lecture halls. There's a bunch of students lingering around, wearing college student garb with leaflets. I walk into the class with a little bit of pomp & circumstance, a little bit of a strut underneath my feet. People look at me odd as I pass through the doors, but nobody really seems to throw any hands. I seem to be drawing unnecessary attention to myself, but whatever. I sit in the back. As the lecture begins, there's an announcement that a special guest from the Khudaldaa's Ustgelt Weather Institute. In walks a very old blue dragonborn man, with a thick Southern accent. As he begins a lecture on runic arts and their relation to geomancy. Geomancy is specific an evolution of runic arts hidden away. specifically, it is the HONING of different types of runic symbols on top of them that amplifies them into one desired output. Geomancy, in sigil circles, though often having to be strengthened by certain symbols on corresponding sides, often only have one set or two sets of symbols that actually power the determined output should be. He starts drawing a ton of symbols on the whiteboard of the classroom.

. The lecturer talks about his position at the Weather Institute, and how it sits on top of a giant fantasma crystal platform. The Weather Institute tries to harness these weird weather phenomena for military or transport reasons. He talks about the symbols they've studied, and demonstrates how they could change weather outputs (cloud, rain, acid rain, etc etc). As he draws them out, he draws them one at a time, so its clear how the combination works

Water: Fire on top, Cold rune on bottom -> creates Water

Cloud : Water symbol modified with Air symbol in middle -> watery cloud of air -> cloud

It seems this combination of runes allows for the modification of weather. This lecturer specifically talks about lightning, and how it relates to the weather phenomenon mentioned earlier. He shows the crafting recipe for Lightning In A Bottle: captures electrical current in a bottle.

TO CRAFT, 2 red & 1 green.

the quality of the materials DOES NOT MATTER

The professor ends off his lecture, and gives each student who attended a FREE Lightning In a Bottle. As I make my way through the students filing out, the professor meets my gaze, and thanks me for attending. His name is Professor Ijisé, Head of Ustgelt Weather Institute (president equivalent). I remark to the professor about the interesting lecture, and ask him the works of combining other runes, using Force and Bludgeoning as an example. The professor responds that while its a little out of my expertise , but for the purposes of the argument, because I'm from Khudaldaa, there is a machine that is operable called a Reconstruction Machine, using Force and Bludgeoning to autonomously make materials. It would sort of work like a factory press, except without a fuel source (the runic symbols being the "fuel" themselves). I probe the professor about Runic Symmetry, for example flipping Water, he remarks laboratory efforts that would make Steam (if Fire bottom and Cold top, the Fire reaction is unstable and instantly makes Steam. the Water reaction with Cold bottom and Fire top is more stable and more controllable. Regarding unstability, the professor looks to the side, and is unsure how to answer, simply remarking it takes years and years of experimentation. If you were to try to get a stable rune of Steam (using the orientation of both on the side), in that situation the specificity of how you would have to draw the symbol for the Steam to NOT strike you immediately would be much more precise than flipping the runes and letting the reaction occur slower. It takes experimentation on the forces that govern our world. The professor remarks, "not everyone should play God" The professor laughs a little bit, remarking about the controversy about the Storm Elementals - it seems like everytime he hosts the lectures, someone asks about the old Weather Institute experiments that allowed giant Elementals to descend from the clouds. He's not sure how they gained consciousness, chuckling. (eyeball emoji INTESIFIES) I thank the professor for his time, and the professor remarks that he's going on a lecture tour, who will be going to The professor will be arriving at the city of Jordmässig in 5 days, the agricultural center for Vomethenda (regarded as the secondary research institute, who does more art on the Runic Arts, whereas Utdanning focuses more on Mystek). He mentions he is heading to the Küvüagaar Research Institute. (Küvüagaar is the God of Engineering/Ingenuity that we learned about from the church cult). The four of us meet up again at Uta's apartment building. We go up again as a group, and make our way through the dark oak hallways. This actually seems like a pretty modern apartment building all things considered, with Mystek lights strewn about. There's construction noises close by - it seems like Uta is actively working on something. As Diaga rings the doorbell, the sawing begins to stop, and Uta remarks her doorbell chime is really loud. Uta opens the door, and she is covered in grease and sawdust. We're apparently early... Uta's excited to show us a statue she's been working on, and lifts off a cloth cover to reveal a large steel-clad monolith that's in the shape of an iron maiden. Its.... complicated. Uta remarks how tensions in the city are high, and that if we want to leave town, we should leave soon. After a lengthy discussion, we decide to head Eyju, the town in the middle of Lake Insjö. Over the course of our three day journey to Lake Insjö, on day 2 as we head towards the lake we begin to get a very strange feeling, almost like a tradewind breeze blowing you towards the lake. It gets harsher and harsher the closer we get to the lake. At the apex of the wind's strength, we reach the edge of a massive cavern - we're at the top of the foothills surrounding the lake. Down below, we see a thick layer of fog covering the top of the lake, and a few spires poking through the rolling fog. Once I reach the town of Eyju, I manage to gather the following materials:

1 silver (+1)

1 hardwood (+0)

1 vine (+0)

The Churchgoers and the Magic Holders - Session 8

Session 8 - 06/15/2024 ***the story so far*** We make our way over to Warehouse Isle to crash at Uta's place. As we pass a series of blocky houses, we locate Uta's house and make our way inside to Uta's apartment. I sneak over to Dr. Motby's shop to get an Arcsthetic Hand. It feels accordian-like, muscles flexing back and forth, and it *feels* like a glove almost. This Hand is very interesting - I hope to do some Runic stuff with this later... We sit and have a meal in Uta's apartment, watching the time pass by. Willow takes a restroom break. Recalling with Diaga, there seems to be a bit of unrest with the amount of Promaticous guards roaming around the city. It seems like a military exercise of some sort, but why its occurring is completely unclear. (This is especially strange as Promaticous is not at war with Vomethnda or Ezlekh.) Having marked one of the Promanatican patrolling groups, I remind myself of their smell - the guards I fought directly seem to be in the opposite direction of where we're heading (to the east side of town). A ghostly hand grasps my shoulder, seemingly wanting me to question our decision to loot the guards, but I don't see anything. We press on. We locate a troop of Promatican guards that we decide to follow. We revisit the bar to our right, but the lights in the bar are out, displaying a "We're Closed" sign. All sign of life is gone. As the evening sets the sun, I smell little bits of blood from the guards we fought (we don't talk about the loss...). As I crouch down to sniff the ground, the smell seems to go down an alleyway to the North. I follow the smell, while Willow follows Roger and Diaga down a different alleyway. This is almost like a business-y district, a low-to-middle-income housing. Roger and I sniff the flowers to our left, as one of the Promatican guards notice us. The guard retorts, "when is the official gonna get here?" "There's supposed to be some sort of agreement regarding the movement of troops." "Better be damn soon, this Vomethndan food makes my stomach sick!" I sniff further for the scent of where the guards are, but I'm able to strongly smell the guards are somewhere in the building behind the statue of the courtyard. I meet up with Roger and Diaga at the East of the courtyard, and let them know the guards are inside. The guard notices us and questions whether we're homeless. He points up at the sky, noting that it is now dark. The guard seems to recognize me from the barfight, based on the description he was given (...ohfuck). Diaga, with the confidence of a badass, strolls right into the guardshack, and takes a shortrest in the house. The guards are *stunned*, but resign in defeat, noting that they should have better security protocols. The guard, confused, but not from around here, goes to retrieve some blankets, as Roger and I aim to fall asleep in the guard's courtyard. Willow, miraculously vibing with it all, takes in the fresh grass and falls asleep. A guard emerges from the guard house, and offers a pillow to Willow, Roger, and I. A second guard offers tattered bedsheets (I think mine is a tablecloth...). Willow, unsure of Diaga's whereabouts, asks Roger where she is. Roger tells Willow that Diaga went off to bang a guard in one of the alleys. Willow doesn't like the sleeping conditions, and walks out of the courtyard, away to who knows where. Roger hears church bells off in the east, and notices a large number of men and women in gray robes, brandishing intricate necklaces (holding stone?) who are walking from the North to the South. Its some kind of religious group (based on the eye logo and the robes), but the items they are holding are not religiously related. Roger has a chat with members of what they proclaim as the Church of Küvüagaar. They're adjacent to technological advancements, but it doesn't seem like the good kind. Roger and I decide to follow the churchgoers and see what they're up to. There's a member holding out a bin, asking for sending stones. The bin is holding ovular rocks, with little sounds and lights peeping out of them. The churchmember notices we're not from around here. The churchgoer remarks that sending stones are essentially telecommunication devices. Roger spots an aasimar with blinding white eyes, and goes to sit with them. The bells go off in perfect harmony. The service begins. It was... unremarkable. Roger makes his way out, and there's a presence almost... following Roger. There's a vague outline of a humanoid figure following Roger. I don't exactly see it, but I feel its presence. Roger rounds the corner, having pocketed two Sending Stones. Roger didn't notice the presence. It's probably not a big deal. Roger and I go to sleep in the courtyard. I get kicked awake, as its the morning now. We head back to Warehouse Isle to visit Uta. We knock, and a sliding latch in the door opens. Uta answers. There's about 5 locks that get undone before her door opens up. Having given Uta her pass to the Kappi Research Institute, Uta offers to give us a tour of the campus. We see a MASSIVE University campus as Uta welcomes us to the Kappi Research Institute. There's about 8 large structures around campus, along with a host of campus housing. We head to the dining hall to get a bite to eat. The stone architecture is very interesting. Uta puts her pass in the lock, and the door unlocks. There's a bunch of people waiting to get breakfast meals from the dining hall. I ask Uta how much breakfast is - Uta says that for guests, its free. We grab some food and head to the front, per Uta's recommendation. After we eat, Uta says she'll show us around the Institute. Uta tells us about the annual Senior prank that gets pulled on the Yarl. Uta is very happy to be a Vomethndan. Uta finally offers to show us around the campus. Uta first takes us to the Head of Engineering Building, the students of which are planning on something for the Yarl's 50th anniversary. This is where I should go for Mystek and Runic Magic related inquiries. Uta tells us she lives in the Teacher's Hall, and departs to finish up her research. Uta leaves us in the Kappi Research Institute. We split off. I head back to the Engineering Building, Hall Miskunner. As I walk through these grand halls, with arched marbled hallways, there's three grand lecture halls that are down each corridor. There seems to be more on the backside of the building. As I walk down, the hallway I am in appears to be the Runic Magic hallway. As I go across passing a flight of stairs, I find the Mystec portion of this building. The classes over here seem to be wrapping up, with some students taking notes on projects. I locate a Mystek weapon that appears to shatter air bolts, being supervised by a professor, who is talking about carving runes in a crystal. The professor hammers it in with an ice pick, and makes a different type of runes (more refined). The output of this launcher is significantly stronger, wildly blowing the books in front of them. I approach the professor and ask if he has a moment to talk. We talk about Mystek technology:

Mystek is based off of any magic sort that involves fantasma crystals, and the integration of those crystals with simple machines. Say, if you wanted to use a Mystek cannon, the projectile may be Mystek, and Runes etched in, with fantasma dust sprinkled in. Once you use the crystal to empower, well, imbue the item with magic.

It works well with geomancy and Runic Arts because it amplifies the magic that those technologies have. One particular thing about Mystek is that fantasma crystals have an innate mechanical function. With the different types of elemental magic, fantasma crystals innately have one type of magic they are geared towards (one type of energy, but could amplify any). There are different laboratory techniques to find out those innate properties. Transforming, manipulation, specific gearing towards X school of magic, etc.

I also ask the professor about the interaction(s) between Mystek and Runic Arts.

Runes, and by extension geomancy, can be used to *hone* fantasma crystal. Say you have a fantasma crystal that is keen to target metal objects. If you inscribe it with fire runes, you could cast a Heat Metal spell with that crystal that is engraved, as you are applying an effect to it. You add something you know, and something you think would make sense with it.

The same can work the opposite. Say you have a fantasma crystal that's focused on damage in wide areas. If you inscribe specific item duplications (geomancy sigils) as well as a piercing effect, it could summon a Knife Storm around that crystal. The size of the crystal is also indicative of that power (not always, but typically).

I prod the professor about my idea for a "flexible hand". The professor recalls an idea about carving multiple Runes and symbols, with specifc activations to achieve a specific effect. With a large enough crystal, you could use only those parts to, for example, do Poison, and other parts to do Fire. You could carve more Runes on the fly as needed, since the crystal could be adept at shooting things. Better yet, you could even use a Geomancy Sigil that hones in Fire *or* Poison sprays.

With Channeling Runes, this professor is not familiar with the effect of those, but recommends going down to geomancy. He offers the basics, that the medium you use to cast a spell, the crystal, in turn allows you to Hone the wild magic of the crystal. Basically, you usually use a medium that is very adept at casting magic (say, an experienced spellbook) that can cast magic reliably. With a strong enough medium, less Channeling Runes are needed. A smaller medium may require more Channeling Runes to reliably output. Without a reliable output, the medium tends to fizzle out.

I thank the professor for his time, and he lets me know he lives in one of the Teacher's Hall. I can also knock on his door anytime. He lets me know his name - Professor Vishara, Department of Mystek Technologies. As I head over to the Geomancy Wing, I spot Roger and Diaga hanging up posters for the music competition. I give them a thumbs up and a little wave.

The Return to Utdanning - Session 7

Session 7 - 06/07/2024 ***the story so far*** As I step 5 feet within the thick vines, I manage to gain vision of the strange man, and fire off one last Ice Knife, piercing his chest, rendering him lifeless on the floor of his dungeon. All the spells dispel, and Roger becomes de-stoned. < END BATTLE 11 - THE STRANGE MAN> As we investigate the strange man's body, we find Uta's missing pass. (yay!!) As we sailed down the underground river, clutching the barrels of anesthetic, I look over at Roger, who looks hella in peace (quelled some of that bloodlust i guess). Near the end of the booze cruise, we spot a sign indicating the direction of Utdanning. On the way, I find: +1 dirt (-3) On our way through a forest-covered path, I spot what appears to be a footprint and a drag line through the dirt. I pause, and get closer. As we continue down the path, we find an old man, who seems *off*. He has wrinkles that see incredibly tight. Roger tries to pull out his packed weapon, but something odd happens. The old man jumps back in worry. Exchanging that we're both collecting stuff in the woods, the old man points us towards a bag hanging from a tree, the bag containing bones (???). The old man seems to have a wide smile about how he got these bones. I turn to Roger, and I tell him "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?". Roger agrees - We intimidate the old man, and Roger wrestles the bag of bones away from the old man. I can detect a faint aura of magic from this old man, but can't tell where exactly its coming from. As the old man points to his left, there's a large RUMBLE. A whirlwind erupts north of us, as a pile of bones forms into a skeletal troll. < BEGIN BATTLE 12 - THE OLD CREEPY MAN>

As I shoot Poison Spray into the face of this old man, the skin droops, and he picks it back up to put it back in place.

As I disengage from the old man to run away, the old man pulls out a small dagger, a purple and black blade, dealing

The old man points his stick downards, and I can strongly feel the evil aura I felt earlier now. It's clear its coming from the old man and his stick.

A second pile of bones forms into a second boney troll.

As I transform into a Brown Bear, the boney troll swings down with a mighty greatclub, and knocks me Prone.

Willow shoots a blast at one of the trolls, and the old man reacts accordingly (*oh?*) It seems the old man is tied in some way to the trolls

I get up and charge the old man, and strike at him with my claw. This knocks ooze out of the old man to the side.

Roger aims square at the man and executes a finishing move.

< END BATTLE 12 - THE OLD CREEPY MAN> The bone trolls collapse under their weight, seemingly no longer in control. Roger harvests the old man's skull and puts a little mark in it. I take the old man's dagger:

+1 dagger (-1)

MADE OF: deals necrotic damage

EFFECT: Upon hit, the target must make a DC(8+CHA+Proficiency) CHA save or have their DEX and STR lowered by 1 until their next Long Rest

Roger takes the bone troll's skull (o_O) As I look at this dagger, there's quite a lot of curves carved into it, shaped like a crescent moon. There's an emblem etched into the blade - the emblem looks like a skeleton of a snake. There's a strong feeling of *unnerved* coming from this daggar, not inherently evil. There's a hazy black mist emitting from the blade when i squint, coming out of the etched symbol. Diaga comes over to look at this dagger, and sweat pools on Diaga - Diaga is taken aback, and says this is the symbol of an undead faction - the name of the faction is "Amidrakh", and the crescent moon-like symbol is associated with them. They're an Ezlekh faction that has been thought to have been dead for the last 100 years. Ezlekh is about a week's journey out... and this faction would have been from a western part of Ezlekh.... they are incredibly far out. Diaga remarks that this is the faction that... made me like this. Pointing at Roger, painfully Diaga remarks that she wasn't born this way. <INSERT ZACH BLOCK ABOUT DIAGA BACKSTORY> I loot the bone trolls: +2 undead bone (+0) As I fish around the undead bones, I feel some magic emit from these bones - these bones are emitting an aura, but the aura fades away as I finish rummaging around. Roger pours out the bones from the bone bag and tries to cast words to make an undead creature appear. It doesn't seem to work. As we head to Utdanning, we make it to the borders of the city. In that time, Roger notes that his pack became lighter, and rummages for the skull in his bag. The skull is gone. We make it to Utdanning as evening beckons upon us. The barrels of anesthetic feel really heavy. We recall that Dr. Motby works in Meadtown, and head in that general direction. As we wade through town, a bunch of people are looking at us weird (we are carrying barrels after all...). We pass by some soldiers walking around in groups wearing interesting armor - its a royal red stamped with a little bit. This color combo doesn't seem too familiar to me, but this probably some Promatican mercenary troop. The crowd is more reactive to these soldiers than us. I do a little sniff of these troops - they smell like dirt and prized mead. There's no magical scent to these guys, absolutely zero. I Mark their Scent. We trudge on. We find Dr. Motby and he remarks about the double recovery of anesthetics. We set the barrels down in front of Dr. Motby. He zooms in his monocole. Dr. Motby is so impressed, and tells us:

I can give you the pay PLUS a little bit more, OR

You can get a free arcsthetic framework, on me

Diaga immediately goes for the arcthetic framework. Willow goes and gets the free Mimicry installment based on the discussion from the train - lots of whirring noises are made, and Willow now has Mimicry installed (!!!) Roger takes the 10 silver pieces. I DO NOT TAKE ANYTHING ( I ask to think about it a little longer) Diaga arranges an appointment for tomorrow for his arcsthetic appointment. As we exit Dr. Motby's, the mood of celebration is upon us, and we find a watering hole tucked away in a storefront not too far from the shop. It's got a nice acacia white oak interior, very clean, very nice bar. We go to the bar. The bartender, a large gruff Tabaxi man tells us to sit our sweaty butts down and have a drink. The bartender pours large pints of mead. As we look around the bar, there's quite a few people here - we seem to be here during peak hours. Roger spots a quite snoody person - a large Goliath man, two tankers of mead next to him. The Goliath is just DOWNING cups of mead, not really breathing between drinks. I lean into Roger and try to egg him on to have a drink with the Goliath man, who slams his down. We all take a regular mead. The bartender sets a tankerd of mead down (its literally bigger than our heads o_O, like 2 Liters worth). It smells like honey, with a nice layer of foam. Its very refreshing. There's a group of gentlemen talking very ingriguingly, and passionately about something. Willow goes to move closer to drop in on them. I don't move along. Roger tries to egg me along for something, but I'm too engrossed by the mead. Slightly intrigued, I look over at who Roger is pointing at. There's a tiefling with blue curly hair who's been eyeing the cup of mead in front of him. He sticks his spoon into the foam and sips it (weird). This tiefling is like... "diagnosing" the beer. Roger points at the 15 guards... he wants to do something to them. Roger seems unnerved by them, as they order around the barkeep. Annoyed by this, I cast Create Bonfire at the feet of one of the guards. The fire lights right under his ass, and the guard gets all confused. He puts out the fire on his ass, and the guys behind him stomp on the fire behind him. Firebutt walks up to me, and asks if we have a problem. We do. The Brewer's Inquisition guy notices this, and asks if the Promatican guards are giving me an issue. The Inquision guy feeds off my energy, and tells the barkeep that he doesn't like the Promatican guards either. The barkeep feels bad, and says he didn't mean to make a problem. The guards approach me and try to intimidate me. I stand up to try to intimidate the guards, and cast Healing Spirit on myself. The guard seems unimpressed, mocks the bear. I shove my hand into the guy's face, and fail to cast Poison Spray. < BEGIN BATTLE 13 - THE BAR BRAWL >

In a spectacular fashion, Roger, the two Brewer's Inquisition guys, and myself find ourselves pinned to the ground.

The guard tries to feed me some lies.

I transform into a Brown Bear.

I beary myself into a standing position. I roar at them, but not much happens out.

The 7 guards jump me, knocking me out of Bear form and dealing 12 damage. I feel nothing but pain.

< END BATTLE 13 - THE BAR BRAWL > Willow drags me over the bar, slumping me up against a stool. Willow pats me on the head, saying "There, there", though i don't really hear much of this. I fall asleep at the bar. The barkeep wakes me up, and I head outside. I come outside with tired eyes. It's about sundown at this point. We make our way over to Warehouse Isle to crash at Uta's place. As we pass a series of blocky houses, we locate Uta's house and make our way inside to Uta's apartment. I sneak over to Dr. Motby's shop to get an Arcsthetic Hand. It feels accordian-like, muscles flexing back and forth, and it *feels* like a glove almost. This Hand is very interesting - I hope to do some Runic stuff with this laster... We sit and have a meal in Uta's apartment, watching the time pass by. Willow takes a restroom break.

The Brawls inside The Bunker - Session 6b

Session 6b - 05/30/2024 ***the story so far*** The Razor Vine collapses under its own weight, shattering the well's stones around it, falling into a deep hole, crashing into the bottom. Its vines and roots seem to provide a pathway down. Seeing nothing left to do, we take a short rest, and descend into the fountain hole. We find ourselves in a bunker. As we start to push through the bunker, our Warforged Interceptor friend, Mert, feels uneasy. As I step into one of the adjacent rooms, the plants within my vision do not feel natural - these are engineering plants, reminiscent of the Razor Vine we fought earlier. These plants are found in jungles, dense forests - why these are down here is strange. Mert indicates there's an underground river below the bunker system. Mert says this river leads back to Utdanning. We enter into a storage room, nothing seems to crazy about this room, other than the fair amount of containers in front of us. Some of the crates contain Druggardust, which is a known hallucinogenic. Not really sure what else it does. Roger decides to snort the Druggardust.... doesn't seem to do anything to Roger, but was incredibly strange to witness. Back in the adjacent room, we find a locked door. Will tries to cast Firebolt, and hits the door. The door is now on fire. We enter into an Armory, and are greeted by sets of armor and weapon racks. I notice a set of studded armor, and equip it. . 7 Medium Armor 15DEX (max 1) Gain the ability to use two handed weapons while using a shield medium or smaller Ranged weapons and throwing attacks have half range As Roger takes the second set of armor, the door we burned down *magically* reappears. (????) As Diaga strikes the door, there's eyes upon the door. We look around the room, and something feels *wrong*. <BEGIN BATTLE 8 - THE ARMORY MIMICS>

Roger summons his greataxe.

Diaga destroys the door.

Willow casts Firebolt on the mimic chest between Roger and I, dealing some damage.

I cast Poison Spray on the mimic chest, but don't manage to hit it.

The Mimics swarm us, but manage to swing at empty air.

More Mimics approach and deal insane damage, as they have morphed into a glaive and a warpick.

Roger and Diaga manage to crush one of the Mimics together.

Willow and I target one of the retreating Mimics, dealing some fire and poison damage.

The third Mimic transforms into a boomerang, flinging themselves at Diaga, who ducks the attack, but it flies past and hits ME in the head. It doesn't hurt a lot, but leaves a mark.

The Mimic in front me transforms into a whip, aims for Willow, and entangles Willow.

I aim for the Mimic entangling Willow, and manage to get a little bit of a poison cloud out.

I manage to handle the whippersnapper Mimic, and turn it into a puddle of goo by firing an effective Poison Spray.

One of the Mimics tries to plead for its life, as Roger swings mightily with his greataxe, splitting the Mimic in two.

< END BATTLE 8 - THE ARMORY MIMICS> Looting the corpses of the Mimics, I gain: +1 flesh (+1) +1 eyes (+2) Entering the last door, we accidentally spot some clan thugs chilling in a room. Despite us quickly shutting the door, the clan thugs chatter about investigating the door. We prepare for the impending fight. <BEGIN BATTLE 9 - THE BUNKER BRAWL>

We all step in through the door, knocking the Clan Thug at the door prone. I transform into a Dire Wolf, and keenly aware of the other enemies in the room, Bite down onto the Clan Thug, shacking my head back and forth, tearing his torso into two.

The Thugs attack, knocking Mert Prone.

I flank the Interceptor attacking Willow, and chomp down, but the Interceptor manages to react to this and skedaddle out of Dodge.

Mert and Diaga target one of the Clan Thugs who retreated up in the corner.

Somehow, the Interceptor managed to get webbed.

Willow gets poisoned.

I move to help attack the Warforged messing up Willow.

Mert, tragically, loses his life in combat.

Seizing the opportunity, I Bite the Warforged in front of Willow, severing its life in two.

The remaining Clan Thugs fall at the hands of Willow, Diaga, and Roger.

< END BATTLE 9 - THE BUNKER BRAWL> I approach the Warforged Trenchman that hangs in the back of the room - this is one of the Trenchman from the Train Battle. Convincing the Trenchman to spill the beans, we learn about the raids for Druggardust, and the location in the Northeast corner of the caves. I ask the Trenchman, "Does this hurt?" As I cup the Trenchman's head, and inject Poison Spray, melting its face to oblivion, as it utters with its dying breath "Noooo" I manage to loot: +1 tin (-1) +1 flesh (+1) There's a main room that's vaguely cave-like, with a wooden tower in the center. This seems like an important room... There's a room on the southern end of the cave - we enter it, and find a Fulguro flower, which has the intrinsic properties of glowing when its dark inside. This flower is commonly used by druids to light the streets at night. I manage to extract some pollen. As we slowly traverse the cave, Diaga and Willow spot a creature in the distance that melts in the in the distance, as Roger and I watch them *plunge* into magical darkness. <BEGIN BATTLE 10 - THE SHADE CAVE>

I can't put my finger on these creatures, I don't recognize them.

As Diaga and Willow get plunged into magical darkness, its hard to make out what is happening within the area.

All of a sudden, the magical darkness fades, with Diaga in the center, and a creature lying dead in front of him.

Seeing a Shadow, I transform into a Dire Wolf, and charge at the creature, using Bite to inflict damage.

Roger squares up and fires off a little Eldritch Blast.

I feel a little wolfy chill (despite my coat of fur) as the Shadow disengages from the attacks.

The second Shade slaps me with its Tendril Whip, and in retaliation, Roger and I surround it, as I Bite into a solid mass, that doesn't seem to fade away.

I'm rendered into a less-than corporeal form, but I angrily smell beef, and chomp down on the beef. I'm able to land a Bite, and deal the finishing blow to the second Shade Devil.

< END BATTLE 10 - THE SHADE CAVE> Inspecting the final door, Willow presses both plants into the door, as the door slowly transforms with a "click!". As the door opens up, we spot a man in the bottom corner, who starts spewing hatred phrases towards the Vomethndans. Spotting Willow, the strange man remarks why Willow is here, and mentions this is why Willow is "blacklisted" (???????????????????). Willow doesn't seem to understand this "blacklisting". Roger seems to be gripping his weapon very tightly. As Roger swings at the man, <BEGIN BATTLE 11 - THE STRANGE MAN>

The strange man gets flanked by Roger and Diaga.

This strange man shoots vines directly out of his body, transforming into a Razor Vine.

Surviving a dangerous slam, I retaliate with Ice Knife, dealing a perfect hit, knocking the man out of the Vine form. Roger and Diaga follow up.

In response, the strange man summons a cloud and throws up a potion, it seems like acid rain, but turns Roger into a stone statue.

The strange man also summons thick vines that make terrain rough.

Its hard to tell what Willow and Diaga do, but they manage to slow him down.

As I step 5 feet within the thick vines, I manage to gain vision of the strange man, and fire off one last Ice Knife, piercing his chest, rendering him lifeless on the floor of his dungeon.

All the spells dispel, and Roger becomes de-stoned.

< END BATTLE 11 - THE STRANGE MAN> As we investigate the strange man's body, we find Uta's missing pass. (yay!!) I also take:

Soulbond Potion: A viridian liquid, thick and sparkling that never seems to settle. Requires two creatures to take effect. For 1 hour both creatures gain a combined health pool, share statuses, and can cast message at will. The effect ends when the creatures become unconscious, or they are further than 150ft apart.

Healing Potion: A revolting green sludge with an occasional chunk in a clear glass bottle. Drink the contents of the bottle to regain up to 2d4+prof. HP. At higher levels. When this potion is crafted at higher levels you regain 3d4+prof. HP (2nd level) or 5d4+prof. HP (3rd level).

The Weedy Raseri Clan - Session 6

Session 6 - 05/26/2024 ***the story so far*** Willow managed to rent a house for the night, acting incredibly self-centered (bit unusual..) but managed to get some eggs. Diaga and Roger are harvesting arcsthetics off Totfram, who apparantly died from Uta's use of the Mountebank's Mask, and meanwhile, Uta still has a headache. On the streets of Warehouse Isle, we head out to the location of Raseri Clan, On the way there, I manage to gather the following materials:

+2 Titanium (+2).

As we make camp just south of the supposed location of the Raseri Clan, I take the first shift of the night and nothing major happens. I go to sleep as Diaga takes the second shift. As dawn breaks, there's a strange gnome feasting on some eggs in our camp, wearing the THICKEST glasses ive probably ever seen. Willow turns to me and mentions that I was mumbling runes in my sleep. >///////< Intrigued, I sit next to the gnome and strike up a conversation. The gnome tells me he became an apprentice at a very young age, working alongside his parents, who inherited a business from them. Laer tells me studying runes is a lot of backbreaking work - Laer tells me that once he completes his journey, he becomes a proper Rune apprentice, and tells me that he could show me some basics of Runes. Defeated, I admit to Laer that I don't really have anything that I could get enchanted - Laer offers to demonstrate his enchantments on someone else. Willow lends her Fairy Pipe (a recorder with two stems) to Laer for enchantments. Laer manages to carve Runes into Willow's Fairy Pipes (Laer carves the Bludgeoning: ᛒ, Slashing: ᛋ, Piercing: ᛈ Runes, in what I think is a random pattern, but it seems intentional to Laer). It seems now that Willow is able to cast Primal Savagery using the Fairy Pipes. Roger asks Laer to enchant his Pot of Armor - Roger's pot now has Armor Eater on it, an interesting equipment modification. Laer then carves additional Runes into Diaga's Morningstar, specifically Thunder: ᛏ, Force: ᛉ, Lightning: ᛚ. The combo seems to allow the weapon to make a large boom. I probe Laer as to the methodology of his carves - the combinations of runes are important, but the number of each Runes also affects the potency of the action. Upon further observation, I note that Laer's Runestones (think a little stone circle with the Rune) is a one-time use, almost like a battery, that contains the energy of the Rune(s) that Laer is carving into our armors and weapons. I thank Laer for teaching me a little bit about Runes, and tell Laer that I look forward to meeting him again in Utdanning! >///////< We discuss our strategy for dealing with the Raseri Clan - Willow and Diaga are going to distract the Raseri Clan while Roger and I flank the camp and sneak in to retrieve Uta's Badge Pass and the anesthetics for Dr. Motby. On our way to the camp, I manage to salvage:

+1 Dirt (-3)

< BEGIN BATTLE 6 - THE RASERI INSURGENT CAMP>

Roger and I sneak around to the South side of the camp, while Willow and Diaga approach the gate entrance.

I climb a tree to get vision of the camp, and tell Roger to follow me to just outside what appears to be an important tent.

I Wild Shape into a Brown Bear, and climb over the fence with Roger.

Willow & Diaga managed to not convince the camp guards to hand over supplies....

In bear form, I dash forward with Roger on my back, as Roger hops off and Hexes the nearest Clan Thug, just narrowly missing an Eldritch Blast.

Willow attempts to push the Thug in front of her.

I charge into the Warforged Interceptor, landing a huge Bite and Claw attack, visibly disturbing the Warforged as he takes considerable damage.

Willow slings egghead insults at the Clan Thug (who is incredibly bald). The Clan Thug seems visibly perturbed by the remark. Willow then casts Healing Word, healing herself.

Roger tries to sling another Eldritch Blast, but it fizzles out.

Diaga fucks a Thug bitch up.

I assert my Beary dominance on the Warforged Interceptor and bring him to his kneeling grave.

Roger aims another Blast... and in a drunken stupor, manages to blow up in his face. This seems to be a regular occurrence.

Roger steels himself, aims squarely, and fires off a PERFECT Eldritch Blast at Clan Thug, dealing a total of 14 damage.

Willow repositions, and casts Firebolt at the Clan Thug, in a dramatic flair that doesn't seem to do much.

I roar back, landing a clean bite and slashing the remaining Thug.

< END BATTLE 6 - THE RASERI INSURGENT CAMP> Our Warforged Interceptor friend guides us to the remaining tower, and Willow and Diaga investigate. I sit outside, in my giant Bear form, just outside the door. Sensing danger, I growl at Roger, who rolls away as a large weed monster emerges from the center fountain. < BEGIN BATTLE 7 - THE WEEDY BOI>

I charge forward in Bear form, and slash it with my claws, but it barely takes any damage.

The Razor Vine slams down its viney arm, but I manage to sidestep it. Despite the sidestep, the Razor Vine inflicts a poisonous cloud, and I take poison damage in the process.

I attack the Razor Vine again in Beary Goodness, inflicting a fair amount of damage.

I sidestep one of the Vine Slams, but manage to get struck by the second Vine Slam of the Razor Vine. I get knocked out of Bear form.

In human form, I analyze the Plant, and determine this was an engineered creature, and this is an abomination to spite nature, rather than to help it.

I run to get some weed killer, while the rest of the party stalls it.

I spray it with Weed Killer, while Roger lands a clean Eldritch Blast to finish it off.

< END BATTLE 7 - THE WEEDY BOI> The Razor Vine collapses under its own weight, shattering the well's stones around it, falling into a deep hole, crashing into the bottom. Its vines and roots seem to provide a pathway down. Before we descend into the pit, I loot the remaining Warforged: +1 arm+hand +1 flesh (-2) +1 Rocket Skates >> A set of skates fitted with a small rocket that can attach to any shoes or boots. As an action equip the rocket skates. For 1 minute gain +10 movement speed. If traveling across difficult terrain your speed is reduced by 5ft. Takes 1 action to equip. +1 Shovel Hands >> A pair of shovels that fit over the hands. As an action equip the shovel hands. For 1 minute gain a burrowing speed of 15ft. Seeing nothing left to do, we take a short rest, and descend into the fountain hole. We find ourselves in bunker.

The Twilight Tussle with Totfram - Session 5

Session 5 - 05/12/2024 ***the story so far*** We remember that Dr Motby had huddled away in the first car, and console him, letting him know the attack is over. We take a short rest. As we pull into the Mellerst Rail Station, the guards are shocked to see a hole blasted in the side of car 36B. We get paid in 5 SP each, and are unleashed in the city of Utdanning. There's a few important districts to be aware of:

Kappi Research Institute, the campus to the North

Meadtown, surrounding us all around

Leikskalar, the sporting district, approximately to the East, and

Warehouse Isle, where most of the freight comes in

Roger and I start heading to Meadtown, wandering over. There's a lot of square, wooden buildings, multi-tiered roofing, and highbrow windows. This is timber building, with stone foundations - basements are unclear. Being strapped for cash and in desperate need of a bag, Roger and I study the trashcan.... until Roger decides to take the trashbag. With the trashbag (think potato sack), we head to the bakery to beg for Elven Bread. It's a little humdrum kinda bakery, first story of someone's house. We step into Gronk's Stronk Bread. The Goliath shopkeep tells us he doesn't give out any bread for free. Roger and I step outside to confer. Diaga splits off in hopes to find some odd jobs around town - she wanders away to the northern end to the city, and notices a network of tunnels underground - this seems to be the only way into the campus district. Roger comes up with the idea of using a summoning trick, sending owls into the shop, grabbing bread in each talons. Being intrigued by this idea, I tell Roger I wanna see this in action. >>>>>>>>>>>>>> ALIGNMENT CHANGE: True Neutral -> True Neutral +3 to CHAOTIC NEUTRAL Roger sends in the owls and manages to get:

2 loafs of bread

After we get away, I watch one of the owls simply go "POOF", and I remark to Roger how neat the little trick is - Roger indicates its a 'family secret'. I bid my adieu to Roger, and start heading for the Kappi Research Institute. The main way to get in appears to be a lift, which can only be accessed via some tunnels - I have to go find Jarl's Lift. I navigate the tunnels despite the signs pointing to deadends, and I find a platform entrance that's sort of like a subway station - there's a figure that's acting at the terminal controls who definitely appears to be someone that *shouldn't* be messing with the controls. I attempt to duck back into cover and trip flat onto my face, alerting the strange figure. I try to cast Poison Spray, but the figure makes some kind of hand gesture that fizzles out. It turns out this figure is a student, wearing a mask, who has been struggling with his pass and managing the controls of the terminal station. I offer to scan his pass to see if it works, and the scanning stone turns violently red - its abundantly clear the pass is invalid. I explain this to the student, and he heads off, but there's blood dripping from his mask. The student proclaims he gets nosebleeds when stressed, but I'm not sure he's telling the truth. I warily hand the student back his pass, and I Mark the Scent of the student's blood. I manage to bump into Diaga, who tells me about what she's been up to.

Diaga is looking for Totfram, a lot of arcthestics and mechanical parts and tattoos, a member of the Raseri Clan, who has a blood feud with the Visindi Gang.

Diaga also says Dr Motby is looking for anesthetics, who told Diaga that the Raseri Clan is messing up with the shipments (who has offered discounts on arcstetics and frameworks).

Diaga ask for my help, and I oblidge. I tell Diaga about the encounter I had with the figure, and I suggest we go track them down for a potential lead. We enter the tunnels again, and manage to track down the figure, who turns out to be Uta, the very same "professor" that Diaga met earlier!! Diaga is suspicious - Uta was exiled from the campus, but is trying to get something from their office. As we intimidate Uta, they give us +1 silver SP each. Diaga, Roger, and I head eastward to Leikskalar to try and meet someone in the Visindi Gang - this area is very flat, with large concrete structures, almost boring in a way, but vast, as the large arenas made of concretes and ornamental metals blanket the landscape. Our intuition leads us to a high-rise building, with a bar on the rooftop - this is rumored where members of the Visindi Gang inhabit on their nights. We take the elevator up, and its a very open bar, with a bar directly across from the elevator. We make our way to the bartender. Roger gets an unsettling feeling about the members of this bar, and despite Diaga trying her best to prevent an all-out brawl, the bartender pulls out an entire barrel of ale so Roger and the dwarf can engage in Glima - it seems like the goal is to not drown.... what a weird game. Roger magically pulls the dwarf to him and shoves his head face-down into the barrel of ale. Impressed, the dwarf gives us the info we want

Totfram was last seen running drugs east.

To eastern Leikskalar we head off to, traveling just off the main road. < BEGIN BATTLE 5 - THE LEIKSKALR EASTERN AMBUSH >

I hand Diaga one of my Firebombs >>>> -1 Firebomb (+1)

As I transform into a Dire Wolf, it seems like the guards have heard Roger and I.

Diaga runs forward to firebomb two of the back henchman, and then immediately engages Totfram.

Trotfram immediately brings down a sickle down onto Diaga and manages to miss, but steps back, shoots a dart out of his eye, and whips out a pair of glasses.

The henchman surround Diaga, and one manages to shoot Diaga with fire.

Roger and I double-team one of the minions, but Trotfram steps aside, and fires a poison dart that strikes my Wolfy Self - I become Poisoned.

The henchman in front of me tosses out a device that blinds my Wolfy Self - this is not gonna be good qwq

My Wolfy Self manages to locate the nearest henchman (he's right in front of me!) through the Keen powers of Hearing and Smell - I chomp in front of me, and manage, blindly, to sink my jaw on the henchman, gnashing on his arm.

I hear Roger fire off a spell, but it sounds like it didn't go very far.

I try to chomp at my enemy again, but it seems like they're not there? They must have moved... wish i could see

I hear the wails of Diaga, the clunk of his heavy armor colliding with the ground.

As I sniff out my enemy, my eyes adjust to what i see in front of me - Diaga is down, Roger doesn't look too good, and we've managed to knock down only 1 of the enemies.

Regaining my vision, I run forward to grab Diaga with my mouth, manage to successfully scoop up Diaga, and dash away into the woods, with Roger quickly following behind.

Totfram taunts us, and calls off his goons, hitting me once more.

Roger attempts to fire an Eldritch Blast at Totfram, and nails him square in the chest - this gives us hope.

I move to drop off Diaga down, and then lunge forward with all my might, striking Totfram with my Bite.

Totfram swings large, striking me hard, making the fatal blow to knock me out of My Wolfy Self.

I fall out of Wild Shape, exhausted, but fired up and ready to fight on.

Roger, in an act of incredible character growth, goes over to Diaga and heals them - Diaga comes sputtering back to life.

Diaga, siezing the opportunity, plants a large shield to provide cover to Diaga and Roger.

Feeling the surge of battle, I transform into a Giant Hyena, and attack at Totfram once again, managing to bring him unconscious (!!!!!!!! A HUUUUUGE UPPERCUT)

Sensing the fleeting opportunity of battle as Totfram's minions close in on us, I grab Totfram in the jaws of my Giant Hyena, and *run* away. Diaga and Roger quickly follow - we took a beating, but we accomplished our mission!

< END BATTLE 5 - THE LEIKSKALR EASTERN AMBUSH > As we rush back to civilization, we're presented with a deep conundrum - we need a place to lay low, in Warehouse Isle. With no real options, we head to Uta's flat. As we drag Totfram's lifeless body up the stairs, we make our way into Uta's flat, who greets us there as we plow through. We sling Totfram's body to the ground, and tie him up, and also cover his eyes. We gain a spoon from Uta. Uta tells us she can get what information she needs from Totfram now, and puts on the mask we saw earlier, blood pouring out, as Uta collapses inside her apartment. I inspect Uta's mask, and realize this is Geomancy at work. The mask seems to be able to provide the Wearer with some kind of information, at a cost of something. This would help explain why Uta was bleeding, and eventually got knocked out. I presume that the enchantment on this mask is: Mountebank's Mask. I use Goodberry to help heal Uta, and give some to Roger and Diaga. Roger doesn't like berries.... Odd. As Uta heads to bed, we rest, exhaustingly, Totfram by our side unconscious, as the morning will bring an additional challenge.

The Journey to Utdanning - Session 4

Session 3 - 5/5/2024 ***the story so far*** We crest over a hill, and the small town Tralljór is lit up by the sunset - the band starts clapping and cheering (finally, an actual town). As we trudge on forward, we hear the sound of a rumbling engine - there's a small wooden barricade around the town, but nothing like a wall. The rumbling gets lounder - there's 3 black dots quickly approaching is. Tseren says out like "...time to reacquaint myself with some old friends". There seems to be some leather-wearing bikers approaching us - they start circling our band of heroes in a 30 ft radius. They stop, and a lizardman lifts up his helmet. Roger stands in front of the biker's path, and they come to a screeching halt. One of the bikers asks what the heck we're doing - Diaga looks at Roger. We tell the biker about a concert we're headed to, but he doesn't seem to fancy our reason. Diaga looks at Willow. Willow gives a little more detail about the bardic musicians, and brings up the musical competition. The biker reveals he is a member of the Tralljór Five, and proclaims that they will be winning the music competition. Willow attempts to win them over by playing a song - Willow attempts to plays the fairy pipes... and plays a beautiful rendition of a song i have never heard before. The biker, begrudingly, seems to think its impressive - he lets us pass, and the biker gang drives away. As we pull up to Tralljór, the town is pretty small, with a few shops here and there, a small city. The band goes off and do their own thing, as we go off and do our own things:

Willow asks around if anyone's seen a satyr named Nessa. It doesn't seem to be going well.

I go and wander the outskirts of town for a while, looking for an arcana or library building of some kind, but don't really seem to find anything.

Roger smears dirt on his face and begs. He gains some copper (+ 5CP) in the process.

Lukas has a spirited conversation with the townsfolk, who are surprised that Lukas is back in town so soon. He's getting ragged on, its kinda funny lol. Lukas pulls an absolute lie out of his ass and manages to convince the townsfolk he's doing anything important. I'm impressed.

Diaga scrounges for resources around town. He finds some tails.

Willow starts to beg in the same block as Roger and finesses more copper than Roger (+ 6 CP). Roger is... betrayed.

Roger is angry, but it doesn't seem like he's doing anything ? <I DO NOT KNOW THIS, BUT: Roger casts an Unseen Servant to grab some supplies from the general hardware store - the shopkeep responds by pulling out a blunderbus and shooting the crap out of some rope. The shopkeep turns his aim towards Roger, and Roger manages to get outside of the shop with the nails. +12 iron nails>

Lukas scrounges for resources around town. He finds some smaller things.

Wanting to be thorough, I finally find a makeshift library in the middle of town, sort of like an information stand. I open the door and go inside. There's must in the air, the common scent of an old library filling my nostrils. There's a really old yuan-ti (related to Diaga?)

Diaga looks around town for a town armorer, who seems to make a bit of leather armor but mostly clothing. The armorer points Diaga in the direction of a weaponsmith, just down the road.

Willow notices it gets dark, and starts walking to Tseren's family's house. Roger realizes there's free food along, and comes along with Willow. Willow glances over and notices Lukas hiding near garbage.

I LEARN THAT this town was founded in 1575, mostly a spot for gathering farmers, trading, nothing major. As the area grew, Tralljór became famous for is music, and the musical competitions hosted here became famous. Some relics are mentioned about magic, like a farmer who cast Fireball to kill gophers and burned down his field. I leave the records store and notice my party wandering the streets. Grouped up, we head for Tseren's house, on the southern end of Tralljór.

As we knock once, the door swings open and we're greeted by Tseren, who wonders where we've been. We're invited in. We *quickly* learn that Tseren's father is a xenophobe, in stark contrast to Tseren. Over the course of the meal, Tseren's father asks us to help advertise Tseren's band in the Battle of the Bands Festival in Tralljór in exchange for money. We try to ask for an advance in money to help assist with travels, but get nothing. We're handed a stack of pamphlets, and are informed to catch a ride on the Husvagan train. AFTER DINNER I GAIN: +1 beast bone (-1) Diaga crafts a cool-ass morningstar. IT HAS THE PROPERTIES OF:

Titanium: no additional property.

Silver: Gives item Silvered property. Item has advantage on attack rolls and deals 1d6 extra damage against aberrations, devils, fiends, monstrosities, and undead.

Tail: Weapon gains one level of reach or increase range by (20/80).

Still feeling uneasy about the dinner exchange, we decide to sleep in shifts. I volunteer to take the first sleep shift. Lukas jostles me awake, telling me he's gonna investigate the noises of Tseren's father. I don't bother stopping Lukas, but i lie awake, just in case. Lukas is absolutely sure Tseren's father is sleepwalking. Lukas tells me all is good, and I feign sleep, continuing to doodle away in my notebook, studying Runes, writing, scribing. Diaga experiences a vivid dream - as he recalls to the group: he finds himself in an evergreen forest, completely silent, trees everywhere. Diaga walks around the forest, and comes across a river, the flow of water completely stopped, as if time is standing still. Behind him, there's a *THUMP*, a patter of something running towards me. Diaga gets behind a tree and peers out, seeing nothing, but the noise gets louder. Diaga tries to hide from the noise. Diaga feels a hot breath, condensation sticking to his cheek. Diaga slowly turns around, and hears the sudden roar of a bear. I don't recall any stories from my childhood that fits this dream. As Lukas and Harvoni study the map in an attempt to locate where the Hasvagan train station. As we approach the Hasvagan train station, it appears to be similar to a hanging monorail train, but held up by some force rather than a mechanical attachment. There's magical plates emanating magical aura from it - digging into my past, and I determine:

.... Raakatite and Fantasma crystals create a field - the "Frestun effect". This is Mystech, derived off of Runic magic. As we approach the train station, we notice its more of a freight train, with guards below holding arcane rifles.

We talk to the guards, who inform us the train is headed to Utdanning. Willow attempts to persuade the guards, and the guard is vehemently anti-Ezlekhian, who flatly refuses Willow's attempts to persuade. The guard turns to Diaga, and attempts to recruit Diaga to be a guard, watching over the train's payload to Utdanning. The guard, somehow convinced by Diaga's request for additional party members, informs us that 36B is the precious cargo that we need to protect. We don't bother asking what this cargo is. There's also a VIP car filled with important members (this would be 34B). In car 34B, there's a few businessman, but at the back of the train, there's a working guy with some medical tools, tinkering with an unknown device. The party splits up - Roger heads to the 24A VIP family car, while Willow, Lukas, Diaga, and I stay in the 36B. There's mechanisms to detach the cars, but it seems a tool is required. Within the cargo hold, I decide to investigate the crates - I use Detect Magic and determine that every crate in this cargo hold is eminating magical aura. As the train rushes out of the station, Roger gets knocked Prune as the train pulls away with incredible speed. Willow gets talking with Dr Motby, the rich VIP, who offers an arcthestic that can enhance voice. Recognizing this, Willow calls for me (the apparant Rune lady of the group). Lukas opens one of the bags in the original cargo hold, and finds ground-up Fantasma crystals. This seems to be an incomplete product - it could be derived into a drug known as "druggar dust", it could be used to power small Mystech devices, etc. It is ground for a reason. Lukas shoots Fireball at the top of the barrel - it glances off the top, scorching a line across the top. Lukas cuts his losses and pockets some crystal. As I inspect the device in Dr Motby's hands, I can confirm the device is Mimcry, and notate the order of runes in my notebook. As we continue talking about the cargo and with Dr. Motby, there's a large *PING* against the wall of the train - this does not sound good at all. Roger cracks open a crate and takes 1 Fantasma crystal. There's a javelin that punctured through the train car, and Diaga looks out the window and sees a Warforged figure, with tank treads for legs, and are weilding a chain/rope tying them to the puncture in the wall. They're holding a large lance. < BEGIN BATTLE 4 - THE WARFORGED TRAIN BATTLE >

As we take positions in the car, two large Warforged tank-likes impale the sides of the car, releasing 3 smaller Warforged into the car.

I attempt to Earthbind the large Warforged, but its so big that its been on the ground this whole time, rendering no advantage.

Diaga uses his newly-crafted morningstar to knock Prone one of the Warforged - it gets back up.

I transform into a Dire Wolf, charging at the enemy in front of Diaga

Lukas goes invisible, and notices a mechanical device that seems to be tracking him on the Warforged.

As the battle commences, the second Warforged launches itself inside the traincar.

A blast of energy hits Willow square in the chest.

One of the Warforged charges directly through Diaga and I, simultaneously crushing an enemy ally.

In response, Diaga and I both attack, succeeding, as I clamp down on the the enemy's torso, ripping it in half.

Lukas, Willow, and Diaga take down the remaining Warforged.

In a brutal move, Diaga and I flank the remaining enemy, as I chomp down on its thigh, crushing it, while Diaga rips its head off.

< END BATTLE 4 - THE WARFORGED TRAIN BATTLE > Post-battle, we loot the bodies of the warforged and robotic enemies:

+1 warforged heart (-1)

+1 warforged arm+hand

We remember that Dr Motby had huddled away in the first car, and console him, letting him know the attack is over. We take a short rest. As we pull into the Mellerst Rail Station, the guards are shocked to see a hole blasted in the side of car 36B.

The Bird and the Boreworm - Session 3

Session 3 - 4/28/2024 ***the story so far*** Sensing a potential Ezlekhian invasion if we stay the night, we hike alongside the wagon with the rest of the band members, and we head north, hoping that nothing else comes to attack us. Lieutenant Sune, a large burly lion, is heading north with us through the passage, giving us guidance. He definitely skipped leg day with those twigs of his, but at least his red mane is fabulous. Strangely, I don't really hear any bombing sounds any more. This seems to have calmed down the bardic musicians. As I look closer, Sune's leg's are definitely not flesh - they appear more robotic, possibly made of arcstethics? As we travel through the mountain pass, Lieutenant Sune informs us we're still in Ezlekhian territory. I look at the statue in front of me - there's a spike on the top and seems incredibly old. There's a slot in the front of it, circumscribed by runes, and the slot has some charring, as if something has burned. I look at the statue further - there doesn't seem to be anything else I can glean from, other than the runes look to be some kind of magical focus. The edges of the runes have some symbols that stick out to me - it looks like Channeling ᛞ Runes (which strengthen a spell) and some Thunder ᛏ Runes (which harness thunder energy.... for what purpose?). Lieutenant Sune reckons this is probably an Ezlekhian trap. Willow seems to be on a bit of a rock grind, and accidentally dislodges a rock that falls down the mountainside, just barely grazing her cheek. I hear a large *thud* as the rock crashes to the ground and shatters apart (a 30 feet fall). A black raven-like aarakocra pops out from the top of the mountain, wearing some mage robes and holding a double-edge scythe - he caws at us and flaps his wings. <-Begin Battle 3 - An Attack from an Aarakocra-> ....The aarakocra appears to be an Ezlekhian general of some kind. ....Roger attempts to sling Eldritch Blast, but it narrowly shoots by Chuluun's neck. ....Willow viciously mocks Chuluun's entire being - he's pissed. ....Diaga sneaks underneath and shoots a burst of poison spray at Chuluun - he narrowly misses a laser streak of the spray that whizzes by his eye. Diaga shouts "shazam!". Chuluun is clamoring that we take turns in this battle (HA!) ....Lieutenant Sune flings a giant arrow into the scalp of Commander Chuluun, who's downright frustrated at this point. ....Lukas Johannsen casts Fire Bolt at Chuluun, but careens past as the Commander dodges the attack. His eyes narrow, focusing on Lukas, and mocks the fireball throwing. At this point, Chuluun notices me off to the side (!!) ....Commander Chuluun throws down an industrial device that appears to be blowing wind - I'm pushed 10 feet back into the stone wall behind me. Chuluun hucks a grenade in the direction of Willow, Roger, and Lukas. ....Commander Chuluun is having a grand ol time, mocking us in the process as I cast Earthbind to render Chuluun stuck to the ground. ....Roger attempts to cast Eldritch Blast again, and points a strong finger.... right as his face, unleashing a massive blast, knocking himself unconscious - almost instantly, Willow saves Roger before he falls unconscious, barely. Feeling sorry for Roger, Willow uses Bardic Inspiration on Roger (hope it helps!) ....Lieutenant Sune fires another giant arrow right into the chest of Commander Chuluun, dealing further damage. Chuluun is pissed. ....I cast Ice Knife at the wind device, utterly shattering it in one hit, as the wooden structure explodes apart. ....Chuluun actives the runic structure next to me, as it glows yellow and activates. It narrowly misses me, but blasts out a giant soundwave. It feels *very* strong*. This turret should have a range of about 60 feet. ....Chuluun slides down the cliff and attacks Diaga, tearing a giant cross through Diaga's chest with the double-sycthe - it's a vicious attack, but Diaga is prepared! He casts Protective Field (psyonic powers baby!!) reducing the overall impact, but it still deals an overwhelming amount of damage. ....Willow charges forward in an attempt to ram Chuluun, and... Willow's head just smacks into the rockface beyond Chuluun. (kind of embarassing) ....As Willow steps back, it leaves me with an opening to cast Ice Knife - I fire it at Chuluun and it hits his right shoulder, exploding for a measly 2 damage. ....Lieutenant Sune steps forward and plunges a large greatsword into Commander Chuluun. ....Chuluun plunges his scythe into the ground near Sune, Diaga, and Willow as a large tremor forms underneath - Sune is caught in the tremor and falls prone, while Willow and Diaga survive the attack. This sycthe is enchanted with 'Seismic Plunge' (orangeish) ....With my knowledge of Rune Master, if I change the channeling rune, the device will explode and potentially hurt me, so I decide to change the Thunder ᛏ Rune instead into a Lightning ᛚ Rune - the turret still seems to move but is unable to channel its attacks into anything meaningful. ....Roger attemps yet another Eldritch Blast and manages to successfully knock rocks, falling down onto Diaga, Sune, Willow, and Chuluun. The rocks fall onto Willow and Commander Chuluun, dealing bludgeoning damage in the process. ....Diaga pulls out a flail and attacks Chuluun head-on. ....Lieutenant Sune wields his greatsword, smacking a swift blow on the Commander's back, rendering his wings useless, and finishing him for good. <- End Battle 4 - An Attack from an Aarakocra-> I take the crystal ball, glowing blue, off the body of Commander Chuluun, and my arcana knowledge notes that

1. the crystal was attuned (a spellcasting focus?) to Chuluun, almost resonating with him (soul-bonded?) **you can only attune yourself with 3 items**

2. this is a Fantasma crystal, a very valuable crystal from these mountains. This is also the material that this war is being fought over.

We loot Commander Chuluun's body: ....+2 firebombs (ADDED IN WORLDANVIL) ....+1 Fantasma crystal I investigate the northern turret using my arcana knowledge - this turret was carved with a Channeling ᛞ Rune and Force ᛉ Rune. As we finish our journey through the mountainpass, Lieutenant Sune bids us farewell. Roger asks Sune about his armor and equipment - he has a greatsword (+0), +2 crossbows (with a lot of arrows). As the sun rises up, we realize.... we're desperate for sleep. The bardic musicians instantly start setting up camp, and we take a long rest. < SLEEP TIME BEFORE MY NIGHT SHIFT WATCHING OVER THE CAMP> I wake up to take my night shift, watching the party sleep through the night, half-awake. It's high noon after the rest, and we're ready to hit the road. The band seems a little more downtrodden - maybe they want to get to town? There's an awkward silence amongst them. The vibes are off.... Willow asks Brynhil if anything's going on, and Brynhil pulls Willow aside. Brynhil tells Willow about an upcoming music festival in Tralljór, just south of Urdanning. Brynhil gets really giddy as Willow mentions she might be interested in playing with them. We start heading northward to Tralljór. As we travel the 20 miles or so to the town, we admire the rolling plateaus around us. It's... very barren. I've only seen hills for miles. I miss the forests. As we travel, the terrain gets a little rough. We're able to Gather, and I gain: ....+1 stone (-2) As we look around, we notice an opening in the rolling hills, on a rockface. There's an abandoned, rusted minecart at the end of some tracks, leading downward. We pile our way, one by one, into the mineshaft. There's a dirt path to the right, and a trail of rails that almost immediately degrades. There's a bit of moisture in this cave, giving off a wet iron smell. The band sets up camp outside of the cave. There's a slim passage to the left, about 2 feet across, pretty narrow, with whoosing wind sounds, and a cave-in directly in front of us. As I investigate the cave-in, it looks like a giant rock has fallen and smashed down below. The tracks of the minecart indicate that the cave-in happened a long time ago, and that the cave is much older. There's some cracks in the cave-in, and it probably goes down a couple hundred feet, but the cave-in looks to be about 30 feet thick. Seeing no other option, we shimmy through the crack on the left to explore the cave. We notice on the cave walls there's clear patches of a quartz-like material. The sound of whoosing winds get louder, almost like a howling wind, coming from the giant chasm below. As we get to the end of the passageway, there's the giant chasm - 30 feet in diameter, reaching down maybe 50 feet, and there's a rope ladder on the side of the chasm, leading to the bottom of it. I inspect the rope ladder, and one of the boards on it is very loose - it'll probably break when I step on it. I repair the board with some hardwood we have, and it looks safe to travel! The whooshing sound seems to come from a tunnel, scarily straight, with some etched lines across the tunnel. From a cursory standpoint, somebody has used a piece of equipment to make this hole (maybe it's a natural formation?) As a safeguard, I use Detect Magic, casting a green aura around me - I notice my allies' spellcasting feats are the only thing that pops up in my immediate vicinity. I peer into the tunnel, and I hear the whooshing sound even more (im literally at the mouth of the tunnel) and there feels to be some faint magic emanating from the tunnel - there's a glowing outline from something deep in the tunnel, about a couple hundred feet. Roger summons a pack of weasels - one jumps onto Roger's shoulder, and one dutifully traverses the tunnel. The weasel moves past our field of darkvision, and all we hear is the pitter-patter fading out, giving way to the wind. The weasel does not return. Roger peers through the eyes of the weasel, and tells us what the weasel sensed - it came upon a skeleton that's reaching its arm out (on the ground) towards the weasel, wearing a miner's helmet, holding a glowing rock Roger's never seen. The skeleton doesn't have a lower half to it (o_O). The weasel turns back and returns to us. The tunnel continues after the skeleton. On a return trip, the three weasels make their way down the tunnel. Through the weasels, Roger hears the same stuff, as the weasels make it to the skeleton - the whipping winds completely cut out, eerily. We can even hear the echo of the little weasel noises. The weasels carry the stone back, and they drop the stone. An almost bell-like noise echos through the tunnel, and its the only sound we hear. From *deep* within the tunnel, we hear a loud, deafening roar - its giving Bestial, with a bit of flem. It lasts for almost 10 seconds. The weasels skitter away from the object, and sprint back to Roger. Willow lets out a giant Weasel roar. The roar echos through the entire tunnel, eclipsing Roger's pathetic Weasel roar. We hear the sound of the wind pick back up through the deep parts of the tunnel, but only louder. Diaga takes the lead in front of us, telling us he's a little freaked out. Can't blame him, I'm a little spooked as well. Diaga slithers ahead, about 150 feet - the winds are incredibly loud, but we can still hear eachother. Ahead of us, we can see a prism of green glowing in front of the skeleton - the stone is from the School of Enchantment Magic. I use my Arcana knowledge to discern the stone - I've *never* seen a stone like this before. Despite all my knowledge, I've heard of stones like this before, but I know it's NOT Fantasma, its NOT quartze, but it IS RELATED to Fantasma crystals. It's almost like a cluster. There's a magnifying magical power to it - this is MUCH more powerful than any Fantasma crystal I've ever seen. The powers are latent to the stone, way more subdued, but a larger cap of energy as a whole. Diaga goes to pick up the stone - as Diaga reaches out, hesitantly, to pick up the stone, he gets a hands away from the stone he stutters back. Diaga tells us about the vision he saw: ....The vision Diaga sees is the stone being crafted into a bow and arrow, containing many stone. The wielder of the bow and arrow aims at wyverns in the the sky. 3 of them drop out of the sky, and the 4th wyvern gets hit by the arrow, the vision ends. The tunnel gets quieter, not completely silent, as we keep a whisper among us. **Diaga recalls a story from childhood about a bow and arrow that could charm its enemies to sleep.** He thinks this stone could be part of this story. Diaga grabs the stone - the tunnel goes completely silent. The eerie silence hangs in the air. We hear a large roar eminating from that end of the tunnel - there's seismic activity shaking the ground beneath our feet. IF this is a creature large enough to make the ground shake, and given this location (about 70 feet underground), this could be a Hollow creature (the Hollow is located underneath the normal earth). Hollow creatures are **EXTREMELY DANGEROUS**. I discern that the tunnel we're in is *not* the original tunnel - whatever creature came through here, carved this tunnel.... with its body. Willow attempts to Intimidate the Beast, and it gets dead silent - there's a BURST of wind shooting through the tunnel, and we RUN FOR IT. Diaga trips... and takes 24 slashing damage from the wind, whipping us back. It boosts Diaga in front of the entire party. As we run back to the end of the tunnel, the wind dies down, as we hear a slithering sound, scraping against the stone. We narrowly escape the mineshaft, and Brynhil tells us about the Bestial roar she heard. Brynhil tells us the story of the Harp Bow, the Urtamrakh, crafted by a Master Bard. It was said that it could put even its largest enemies to sleep. The bardic musicians are in awe of this bowling ball stone. Kono mentions that someone might know about this stone in the magical university in Urdanning - the Kappi Research Institute. We continue on to Tralljór, and GATHER: ....+1 tin (-1) We crest over a hill, and the small town Tralljór is lit up by the sunset - the band starts clapping and cheering (finally, an actual town). As we trudge on forward, we hear the sound of a rumbling engine - there's a small wooden barricade around the town, but nothing like a wall. The rumbling gets lounder - there's 3 black dots quickly approaching is. Tseren says out like "...time to reacquaint myself with some old friends". There seems to be some leather-wearing bikers approaching us - they start circling our band of heroes in a 30 ft radius. They stop, and a lizardman lifts up his helmet -

The Fight of the Blights - Session 2

Session 2 - 4/19/2024 *the story so far . . .* Captain Osman offered us some supplies from a crate they had lying around in the camp. We're asked to gather some firewood out in the forest - in exchange for doing so, we ask for protection for our bardic musician friends back at the tent. The Vomethndan soliders agree. Lieutenant Sune is looking off in the distance, explosions in the background, lighting up the backside of the mountains. I think he's looking out Ezlekh forces. We look around the camp for additional tools. The Captain's tent has a rifle lying around, with a bayonet attachment. I slip the bayonet attachment off and gain: . +1 tin (-1) The explosions continue rattling off in the distance. There's a halfling woman who appears, badly wounded, mangled almost beyond recognition. She locks eyes onto Diaga. There's shouting everywhere A heavy silence falls over the room, but it's clearly a losing battle. She comments that Diaga is dead inside? Not sure if that's a fair assessment but the vibe's certainly there, but I could be projecting. Maybe she was the one projecting? Soon after her passing, a hulking man shows up named Private Jorey. He's wielding the Tiger Claws arcthestic. He offers our support. Before we head out, I manage to salvage some: . +1 dirt (-3) Private Jorey (in a weirdly familiar voice . . .) tells us about a prison in the city of Gol-Duulga, located in the Bambai region. We start heading to a clearing near the Feramonto Woodlands, just north of the Feramonto Mountains. Our group decides to gather about 15 pieces of wood to gather about 5 ballast's worth of wood for the Vomethndan soldiers. I gather: . +1 hardwood (-2)+1 sap (+0) As I do so, a Twig Blight appears out of the shadow and slashes at me, dealing damage. <-Begin Battle 2 - The Feramonto Woodland Scuffle-> . .The Twig Blight that slashed at me does 5 damage, as it then targets Diaga and Roger. . .I duck around a tree and use Wild Shape to transform into a Dire Wolf, and charge towards the Twig Blight attacking Brynhil. . .Diaga, Roger, and Private Jorey all handle 3 other Twig Blights. . .A re-animated Vine Blight and another Twig Blight appear from the shadows. . .I charge at the Vine Blight and ensnare its stomach in my jaws, dealing 7 piercing damage. It manages to resist being knocked prone. . .Willow manages to psychically shatter the Vine Blight's mental, and it collapses to the ground. <----End Battle 2 - The Feramonto Woodland Scuffle-> Coming out of Wild Shape, disoriented and exhausted a little, I stumble my way over to the Vine Blight. Feeling the death of this creature, I solemnly carve it, preparing it to be accepted back into Nature. I gain: . .+1 sap (+0) . .+1 NUTS (+1) . .+1 dirt (-3) . .+1 hardwood (-1) Willow, realizing that I'm lacking armor, hands me a set of: . .-1 Medium armor dex mod max 2-Creatures of the same type (humanoid, beast, etc.) have disadvantage on attack rolls against you while wearing this armor-Gain +1 to all charisma checks while wearing this armor-Gain up to three material effects-This armor cannot be enchanted with "Armor" enchants As I mine a rock, another Twig Blight stumbles about and makes a cry for help. Nothing immediately appears. Willow and I sync up and start attacking it, fearing the worst. I get close and shoot off Poison Spray, making the Blight wither away into nothing. Soon after, a wave of Twig Blights emerge from the forest. We retreat back to the Vomethndan tent camp, and the band members light up seeing our return. We donate our hardwood to the Vomethndans. I donate: . .-1 hardwood (-2) . .-1 hardwood (-1) The Vomethndans gather up supplies for a trek up the mountain. This will be another long climb surely. I donate a tin (-1) to Willow so she can craft a weapon. She manages to craft a weapon. . .-1 tin (-1) Sensing a potential Ezekhian invasion if we stay the night, we pack into the wagon with the rest of the band members, and we head north, hoping that nothing else comes to attack us.

The First Night

Session 1 - 4/14/2024 I find myself in a wagon filled with dwarves and other members whose names I don't know. Brynhil is playing a panflute, a dwarf named Tseren is playing a triangle, Chono plays a lute, and a dragonborn named Quen who plays a saxophone/horn. They're playing a grand old tune, but it wasn't exactly my taste. The bandmembers explain it needs something. The band is talking to Lukas, and they're talking some villages where they lived. Brynhil joined the band because they want to spread music. Tseren talks to Chono about where they're stopping, and Chono dryly says yes, this is the place. The horses come to a draw. We're stopped on a mountain. As I hear the winds whip around, the music chords start to get really annoying. In the background I hear something unusual. There's a sort of bass drum in the distance, and it seems like Willow Ulgen hears it too. The booming just gets louder and louder. It reminds me of a landslide? There's a fire that suddenly explodes up into the air, as logs and start crashing around. The band doesn't care, funnily enough. The joys of music I suppose. There's suddenly a loud explosion that slaps the mountain nearby to its core. The horses are SPOOKED. The band members call to us and tell us to get out. Diaga grabs some skewered meat on the way out. Must be hungry. An explosion rocks the bottom of the wagon, throwing us up into the air. Time feels like it slows down - guess that happens when I don't react in time to grab onto the cart. The cart shatters. I'm knocked prone and unconscious. <is unconscious> As I wake up, I'm being dragged across the ground by Kingen away from the wreckage. There's some boars ahead of us that notice up. They're posturing, threatening to charge. I take a stance to indicate to the boars that I'm non-threatening, palms up. The boar backs up, but more come closer, uneasy, threatened. A real shame the band doesn't have any instruments. As I feel the surge of nature coarse through me, a fire lights in my eyes as I light the ground ahead of me on fire. The boars did not like that (who could have seen that coming...). <Engage Battle 1 - The Battle of Boar Forest> . - One of the boars charges at me but fails to strike a hit with its tusk, taking some damage from the bad animal movement. . - Another boar charges the musicians and starts hurting them with its tusks. . - Roger flanks right and erupts a blast of confetti, killing the boar hurting the musician (Eldritch Blast) . . - I kill the boar in front of me by shooting poison gas directly in its snout. It stumbles back, inhaling it all in. . - The band takes more damage from the boars. . - I annihilate another boar with my palm, shooting poison gas directly in its snout. . - Diaga does the same move and attacks the remaining boar as a cloud of poison gas shoots from her palm - the boar is pissed. . - I move in towards the remaining boar, and shove my hand directly down its throat in a visceral fashion, injecting poison gas directly into its lungs. It withers away. <End Battle 1 - The Battle of Boar Forest> As the boar withers away, I carve it for supplies: +1 boar eye (-3) +1 boar pouch of blood (-3) As more trees fall in the distance, loudly. Brynhil jumps, scared. What sounds like heavy footsteps is coming from our right. Diaga announces us that there's a Vomethndan soldier force near us, with a goliath holding an arcane rifle ahead of a pack. They charge northward from the south end of the pond, heading up towards the mountainside to attack whatever may be there. A number of horse-drawn carts pass us, and notice us coming out of the forest. The Vomethndan soldiers notice and call out "Hey! There's refugees here!" We get taken to a Vomethndan tent camp, and are brought into a tent, mainly due to the fact no one is bleeding. We're lucky enough that we could convince them to lend us some supplies. Inside the tent encampment, we're shown a rebar crate filled with a bunch of monster parts and random assortments of crap. We loot the crate for supplies: +1 stone (-2) +1 tail (-2) Willow Ulgen asks about a satyr named Nessa - the Vomethndans don't recognize the name. We're asked to gather some firewood out in the forest - in exchange for doing so, we ask for protection for our bardic musician friends back at the tent. The Vomethndan soliders agree.

Important Character File Links

Arcthestic Body Modifications form (google drive): view-only link: https://app.luminpdf.com/viewer/66132827998c2a0770461ec3

Harvoni Bodma

??? - Session 23

The Battle of the Bands - Journal 21

Before the Battle of the Bands P2 - Journal 20

Before the Battle of the Bands P1- Journal 19

Pursuit of the Pirates - Journal 18

The Abduction of Willow Ulgen - Journal 17

Bardagi Up North- Journal 16

Seeing Double - Journal 15b

Journal 15a - The Puzzle Process

The Cavernous Crawl - Journal 15

The Checkpoint before the Cave - Journal 14

The Wintery Checkpoint - Session 13

The Storming of the Fort - Session 12

The River Riots to Heilagur- Session 11

The Silent Waters of Lake Insjö - Session 10

Wystic Weather Woes - Session 9

The Churchgoers and the Magic Holders - Session 8

The Return to Utdanning - Session 7

The Brawls inside The Bunker - Session 6b

The Weedy Raseri Clan - Session 6

The Twilight Tussle with Totfram - Session 5

The Journey to Utdanning - Session 4

The Bird and the Boreworm - Session 3

The Fight of the Blights - Session 2

The First Night

Important Character File Links

Comments

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Player Handbook

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Harvoni Bodma

??? - Session 23

The Battle of the Bands - Journal 21

Before the Battle of the Bands P2 - Journal 20

Before the Battle of the Bands P1- Journal 19

Pursuit of the Pirates - Journal 18

The Abduction of Willow Ulgen - Journal 17

Bardagi Up North- Journal 16

Seeing Double - Journal 15b

Journal 15a - The Puzzle Process

The Cavernous Crawl - Journal 15

The Checkpoint before the Cave - Journal 14

The Wintery Checkpoint - Session 13

The Storming of the Fort - Session 12

The River Riots to Heilagur- Session 11

The Silent Waters of Lake Insjö - Session 10

Wystic Weather Woes - Session 9

The Churchgoers and the Magic Holders - Session 8

The Return to Utdanning - Session 7

The Brawls inside The Bunker - Session 6b

The Weedy Raseri Clan - Session 6

The Twilight Tussle with Totfram - Session 5

The Journey to Utdanning - Session 4

The Bird and the Boreworm - Session 3

The Fight of the Blights - Session 2

The First Night

Important Character File Links

Comments

Find your way!

Resources

WHO WE ARE

LEGAL

Get the news

Our Shop

Development

EVENTS

REACHING OUT

A BIG THANK YOU